LAHORE - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday directed the speedy completion of solar and wind energy projects, saying that it was a priority of the government to encourage the production of electricity through renewable sources of energy.
While chairing a meeting here in Lahore, the prime minister said that renewable sources would produce low-cost and environment-friendly electricity.
The participants of the meeting were informed in detail about the pace of work on the ongoing solar and wind energy projects and those being delayed for different reasons.
The meeting was also told that besides the current 10,000 megawatts renewable energy projects, other renewable power projects of 6,000 megawatts could also be considered to produce environment-friendly and low-cost energy.
The Federal Ministers Ishaq Dar, Khurram Dastgir, Ahsan Iqbal, Special Assistant to PM Jehanzeb Khan, Adviser Ahad Cheema and officials concerned attended the meeting.
Addressing the meeting, Shehbaz Sharif pointed out that the last government did not complete the solar and wind energy projects started by the previous government of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). “The 220 million people of Pakistan suffered due to the criminal negligence and incompetence of the last government,” he observed, adding , work on the solar power projects of 10,000 megawatts was continuing at a fast pace under the incumbent government. He directed the relevant institutions to immediately present a strategy for fully benefiting from the available solar and wind resources as they would help in saving precious foreign exchange being spent on the import of expensive fuel. He assured that all obstacles in the way of renewable energy projects would be removed