Federal Minister for Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed has said that the government initiated a number of hydel, solar and thermal projects to eliminate power load-shedding by next year.

Talking to Radio Pakistan, he said, “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after coming into power in 2013 vowed to bring Pakistan out of darkness and eliminate load-shedding from the country by all means.”

He said, “The Prime Minister was the man of commitment and we should believe in his efforts to overcome energy shortage.”

Energy expert, Dr. Gulfaraz also said, “The government was mainly focusing on hydel power projects in order to produce cheap electricity.”

He said, “The government should also focus on the construction of new dams to store water for this purpose. The government had signed agreements with Qatar for the import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) that was another source to produce cheap electricity.” 

He said, “Three power plants including Haveli Bahadur Shah, Bhikki were near completion and these power plants would add about 3600 MW electricity in the national grid station.”

Economist Dr. Abid Qayyum Sulehri said, “The incumbent government had initiated a number of development projects related to improvement in infrastructure through China Pakistan Economic Corridor project (CPEC).”

He said, “CPEC was a game changer project that was proving a golden opportunity for the local and foreign investors to invest in development projects.”

To a question, he said, “Environmental changes had badly affected Pakistan and its agriculture sector. But this sector had improved to a great extent due to efforts of the government.