Islamabad: China has committed $6.5 billion to two nuclear power plants being constructed in Karachi and efforts are under way to further deepen civil-nuclear cooperation, said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif whose government is struggling to cope with acute power shortages.
He was addressing on Wednesday a special cabinet meeting on the state of the economy, which, unlike the past, was not held behind closed doors but in the presence of media.
Sharif said China was providing a concessionary loan for K2 and K3 nuclear power plants having combined generation capacity of 2,117 megawatts. The repayment period will be 10 to 20 years. Talks with China for more loans for power projects are also under way.
The premier said the government was executing a multi-pronged strategy to end power outages, but he did not give any timeframe.
Elaborating, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar pointed out that paperwork had been started for 22,000MW projects including Dasu power project and Diamer Basha Dam. He expected addition of 8,000MW to the national grid in the next five years.
