Pakistan to receive 500 MW of electricity from India

Pakistan to receive 500 MW of electricity from India

A plan is underway, according to which Pakistan will receive 500 MW of electricity from India, which will help the country curb its power shortage.

Representatives of the both states are to meet next month to finalise the prevailing issues and come to an agreement over tariff and grid connectivity.

A senior Indian power ministry official told The Telegraph, a Calcutta-based newspaper, said, “A formal understanding has been reached between the two countries on sale of electricity. The finer points are being worked out. The
grid connectivity across the border would help Islamabad tide itself over.”

Another official said, “There is a political will among leaders of the two nations to enhance trade ties and this would work for early solution of issues.”

Pakistan and India are taking into consideration of setting up a transmission infrastructure in which 500 Megawatts will be transferred to Lahore through Amritsar. Lahore is near Indian border so it would be economically feasible
to transfer power there.

KC Venugopal, Indian State Minister for Power, said, “South Asia is a major hub of fast-growing economies having 25% of the world’s population. There is an ongoing shift in focus from agriculture to manufacturing. No South Asian
country can meet its energy needs entirely from within its own domestic resources. We need to integrate the entire region with a robust power grid.”

Electricity trade is a major area of collaboration among South Asian countries as it can bring prosperity to the sub-continent by providing power to parts of the region which are in dire need of it.

A combination of electricity grids across South Asia will reduce power costs of all members while increasing competition between them as well. Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India have huge hydroelectric potential, which
can be utilized to increase power trade between South Asian countries.

As per an estimate, the power requirement of India will increase by 250,000MW till 2017. A South Asian grid will give the region 100,000MW of power to trade and help India bung hydropower and natural gas reserves of its neighbours.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=4419

Posted by Wajahat Javed on Nov 22 2011. Filed under Business, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry