ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has 35,000 megawatts power generation capacity but load shedding is persistent in different parts of the country due to the closure of several power plants, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif informed the National Assembly on Saturday.

Speaking on the floor of the house in the NA session, he said that 6,000 MW of hydel power could be generated which was linked to the melting of glaciers and the availability of water.

The CPEC coal-based plants and the new LNG plants that could produce about 5,000 MW of power, including the one set up during 2019 with a capacity to generate 1250 MW, had been closed since the last four years, he said.

The new plants could not generate power due to the unavailability of gas, or expensive oil, Shehbaz added.

He said the prices of LNG imports surged unprecedentedly. Now, they stand around 30-35 dollars per unit.

The prime minister appreciated Amir of Qatar’s personal intervention to provide LNG at a discounted price.

He referred to the slow-paced construction work on Rawal Chowk Flyover in Islamabad, saying that the project, despite a clear deadline for its completion within two years, had been stalled, multiplying the woes of the public and motorists. The contract for this flyover was awarded to a black-listed company by the PTI’s government which was penalized in the past, the prime minister said.

The projects like those of Rawal Chowk Flyover were completed in Punjab in 72 days during the PML-N’s previous tenure.

This story was originally published in Business Recorder on April 17, 2022.