Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called upon the government to take all necessary measures to ensure timely completion of ongoing energy projects because any further delay in such projects would hamper all efforts aimed at economic revival of the country.

 

Muzzamil Hussain Sabri, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that a major factor contributing to the widening energy demand and supply gap was the delay in the completion of various energy projects and this trend should be arrested forthwith to save the business and industry from further harmful consequences. 

 

He said the cost of important Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project of 969MW has reportedly increased by four times since 2001 due to long delay in its completion. The initial cost of the project was estimated at Rs.84.55 billion which was now projected at Rs.416 billion. Similarly the 425MW Nandipur power project has caused a huge loss of Rs.113 billion due to long delay in its completion. He said the long delays in energy projects of national importance shows that huge amount of national exchequer was being wasted unnecessarily. 

 

He said that the persistent energy crisis in Pakistan has already inflicted 2-3 percent per annum damage to the country’s GDP and failure of the authorities to complete ongoing energy projects on time would further expose the business and industry to further damage and the general public to more misery. 

 

Muzzamil Hussain Sabri said that the government should ensure timely release of required funds to energy projects as the non-supply of needed funds was the major factor contributing to the delay in completion of these projects. 

 

He said government has planned many initiatives to overcome the power shortage that include wind energy generation of 2000 MW by 2016, CASA project of 1000 MW by 2017 and import of 4000MW energy from China and emphasized that all such plans should be executed within stipulated time to yield good results for the country. 

 

He said the interrupted energy supply to industry was essential requirement to promote industrialization & exports, create more jobs and attract new investment in the country, therefore, government should accord top priority to overcoming power shortfall and to make the country self-sufficient in energy sector.