Government to attract investment in renewable energy sector

Government to attract investment in renewable energy sector

Tuesday, March 6, 2012: The Government is considering waiving off duties on imports of parts of renewable energy plants. The government is looking to attract investment in the renewable energy sector and for the very reason has
come out with this proposal.

Such a step by the government will be highly appreciated by consumers and power producers alike. At present, there is no import duty on complete renewable energy plants but investors have to pay duty if they import parts.

Yousaf Raza, Prime Minister of Pakistan, headed a meeting at the Prime Minister House where the proposal was discussed. The Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) has submitted suggestion to the Ministry of Finance which will
be examined and if approved will be announced in the budget in June, 2012.

Yousaf Raza Gilani directed Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Minister for Finance to examine the proposals.

Another project was discussed during the meeting. Pakistan State Oil (PSO) decided to launch the pilot project of bio-diesel which will have the support of the AEDB and the government of Baluchistan.

A senior government official said “We have already seen the benefits of bio-diesel when a car powered by bio-diesel covered a distance of 40,000 kilometres in Pakistan.”

The official further said that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has targeted the completion of the bio-diesel project by 2020, which will save Rs2 billion annually.

Meanwhile according to a statement Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said that the government has commenced a number of projects in the power sector to overcome the energy shortfall in the country.

The Prime Minister said that apart from hydel power generation, the country possessed huge potential of power generation through other renewable energy resources of wind, solar, geo-thermal and biofuel energy. Gilani said that
wind energy could produce 350,000 MW, solar 2.9 million MW and geo-thermal 2,500 MW.

The Prime Minister also said that villages that were located at a distance from the national grid will be proved solar electricity.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=14858

Posted by Wajahat Javed on Mar 7 2012. 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