Sindh govt against privatisation of Lakhra power plant

Karachi: The Sindh government has expressed its interest to run the Lakhra power plant either under its full control and command or with public-private partnership (PPP) rather than to support its privatisation and decided to place this proposal in the upcoming meeting of Council of Common Interest (CCI) to be held on Feb 10 in Islamabad.

This was decided at a meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah to discuss the agenda of the CCI meeting here on Friday.

After a threadbare discussion, the proposal for taking over the Lakhra power plant was made for three reasons, firstly, to take good initiative for usage of indigenous source of energy i.e. coal available with Sindh government at the site, secondly to supplement the power in national grid as move against energy crisis, thirdly to protect the rights of workers and remove unrest among them.

However, the meeting proposed formation of a technical committee to examine the liabilities, assets and balance sheet of Lakhra power plant and to submit terms of reference (TOR) within three months in case this proposal of the Sindh government is approved in the CCI meeting.

The Sindh government has also decided to take the matter pertaining to issuance of sovereign guarantee for Thar Coal and Energy Board (TC&EB) / Sindh Energy Coal Mining Company (SECMC) for raising its financing.

Similarly, the matter regarding transfer of Korangi Fish Harbour and its related components to Sindh government as per sprit of the 18th Amendment and matters regarding collection and distribution of Zakat Fund would also be discussed in the upcoming CCI meeting for which preparation was being made.

The Advisor to CM for Finance Syed Murad Ali Shah, Chief Secretary Sindh Sajjad Saleem Hotiyana, Secretary to CM Rai Sikandar and other officers from related department attended the meeting.