ISLAMABAD   -   The government has proposed an allocation of Rs74736.297 million for power projects under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the next fiscal year 2019-20

An allocation of Rs 1210 million has also been proposed for a new project related to the provision of electricity to the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to be established under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, official source told The Nation.

An amount of Rs 68643. 947 million has been proposed for 56 ongoing power projects while Rs 6092.360 million has been proposed for 16 new schemes under the PSDP 2019-20.Interestingly contrary to the government claim that no unapproved project will be included in the PSDP, 14 out 16 new projects included in fiscal 2019-20 have yet to get approval. Of the total Rs74736.297 million allocation Rs 42292.230 million is being funded through federal PSDP while the remaining will be self-financed by GENCOs, NTDC and DISCOs.

In ongoing projects an allocation of Rs 12500 million has been proposed for the installation of 1200 MW coal fired power plant at Jamshoro. The foreign exchange component of the project is Rs 10000 million while Rs 2500 million will be funded through PSDP.

Similarly an allocation of Rs 7877 million has been proposed for the transmission system between Tajikistan and Pakistan for Central Asia South Asia Transmission Interconnection (CASA-1000).The foreign exchange component of the allocation is Rs 6050 million while the remaining will be funded through local funds. For the interconnection of isolated Makran network at Basima via Nag grid station from Panjgoor grid station an allocation of Rs 6000 million has been proposed. For 220-KV transmission line from D.I.Khan to Zhob along with 220-KV substation at Zhob Rs 2900 million has been proposed in the next PSDP. For electrification of village in Dera Bugti an allocation of Rs 270 million has been proposed. In new projects almost half will go to one project of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) in LESCO. An allocation of Rs 3000 million has been proposed for the project. The FEC component of the project is Rs 2500 million while the remaining will be funded through rupee component.

For the construction of 132-KV Mashkay Grid Station in Balochistan an allocation of Rs 600 million has been proposed. To control electricity theft an allocation of Rs 350 million has been proposed for the Aerial Bundle Cable (ABC) in Bannu Circle of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO).The total cost of the project is Rs 2250 million. For evacuation of power from 220KV/132 KV Swabi Grid Station (PESCO) Rs 300 million has been proposed. It is pertinent to mention here that the government had earmarked Rs72,255.424 million for various ongoing and new power projects under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for 2018-19.