M A I N   N E W S

Sharif okays MoU on power trade with India

Islamabad, January 22
Energy-starved Pakistan is looking at buying electricity from India, with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approving such a deal. A senior Pakistani official said the Cabinet approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during its meeting on Monday.

The issue of electricity trade had come up for discussion during a meeting between Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif during his visit to India last month. Minister for Commerce and Textile Industries Khurram Dastgir Khan, who was in India recently, said establishment of trade ties with the neighbouring countries was one of the top priorities of the government. The minister said trade relations were in favour of people of both the countries.

He had said a proposal to purchase electricity from India was under consideration to meet the country’s short-term demand.

“Both sides agreed that the ongoing technical talks for electricity transmission line and bilateral trade of power/gas need to be revitalised so that there is tangible progress for actual flow of gas and power between both the countries,” an official statement had said.

Chief Minister Sharif also visited Mahatma Gandhi power project in Haryana after which he had said Pakistan would welcome India’s offer for supply of electricity to Pakistan at a reasonable rate.

He said Pakistan would seek cooperation of any country for getting its people rid of darkness.

India has expressed its willingness to export electricity to the tune of 500 MW to Pakistan immediately if infrastructure for transmission of power is made available.

Pakistani daily Business Recorder said during preliminary discussions, the Indian side highlighted issues like frequency synchronisation, quantity of power flowing through the system and issues of short circuiting, distance/fault in one area having an impact on other areas. — PTI