FAISALABAD : A five-member delegation of Punjab Power Development Board (PPDB) met Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) Senior Vice President Mian Tanveer Ahmad, here on Saturday. While talking to the delegation, the FCCI official said Punjab must exploit its hydropower potential to meet its growing needs of electricity by installing small generation units at barrages and canals sprawling throughout the province.

He said industrialists as well as business concerns should concentrate on self power-generation in order to reduce their dependence on national grid, as huge transmission losses have been reported during dispatch of electricity from generation units to major load centres in the province. He appreciated the new schemes conceived by the PPDB for power generation and hoped that the government would give incentives to industrial units along barrages and perennial canals to benefit from the scheme. He said at least 600 to 1000 megawatts of electricity could be generated through existing barrages and canals in Punjab province.

Earlier, Afifa Jabeen, Director Legal Punjab Energy Development Board, said that the provincial government had decided to facilitate industrial units along canals to set up their self-generation hydel units. The PPDB would provide necessary guidance and assistance to industrialist to set up their new hydel units, she added. Later, Mian Tanveer Ahmed presented the FCCI shield to Afifa Jabeen.