The Thar Coal & Energy Board (TCEB) has extended the applicability of financial incentive of 20 percent dollar-based equity Internal Rate of Return (IRR) to all coal mining companies working in Thar Coalfield who can achieve financial close till 31st December, 2019.

This decision was taken on Saturday in 20th TCEB meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Sindh / Chairman Thar Coal & Energy Board (TCEB) Syed Murad Ali Shah.

The meeting was attended by provincial minister Imtiaz Shaikh, Shabir Bijarani, Syed Sardar Shah, Murtaza Wahab, Chief Secretary  Mumtaz Shah, MNA. Shazia Marri, Chairman P&D M. waseem, Waseem Mukhtiar additional Secretary (Power Division), Islamabad, Musaddiq Khan Secretary Energy Sindh, MD Thar Coal Tariq Ali Shah, Managing Director,
The Chief Minister / Chairman, TCEB welcomed the participants and shared his views on the establishment of TCEB and the developments under taken over the last decade.

Mr Shah congratulated the members on achieving milestone of commissioning First Power Plant based on Thar Coal with the National Grid. He added Sindh Government has fulfilled the promises turned the vision of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto into reality. "Thar will definitely change the Sindh as was envisions by our leadership," he said.

The Board extended the applicability of financial incentive of 20 percent dollar-based equity Internal Rate of Return (IRR) to all coal mining companies working in Thar Coalfield who can achieve financial close till 31st December, 2019. The IRR will be 18 percent for those companies who fail to achieve financial close by 31st December, 2019 and will be entitled to 18 percent IRR upto 31st December, 2020.

The Chief Minister Sindh emphasized the mining companies shall strictly bound by the decisions of TCEB with respect to implementation of project as per the parameter set by TCEB. He further stressed in a regulated environment where return of equity and fiscal incentives are provided the implementation of decisions of regulator is mandatory.

The Chief Minister Sindh appreciated the work of Tariff Determination Committee and emphasized the need of further developing in house capacity of TCEB.

The CEOs of SECMC and SSRL gave detailed presentation of their project to the Board. The Board appreciated their hard work and directed to abide by their timelines. The Board further advised both mining companies to give maximum jobs to the local so that the local Thar population be benefited by these projects.

The Board also advised both companies to abide by the environmental and social guideline of the government and adopt all measure to mitigate potential impact of coal mining.

The others who attended meeting including Thar Coal attended. secretary Iirgatio.Jamal Mustafa Syed, DG EPA Naeem Mughal, Mr. Abdul Ghani Pathan, Member, Thar Coal Tariff Determination Committee (TCTDC), Sultann Farooq, Member TCTDC, Abdul Fazal Rizivi, CEO, SECMC and Mr. Chowdhry Abdul Qayoum, CEO, SSRL.