ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the authorities concerned to link the Thar Coal Mines with the country’s railway network by March 2023.

During a meeting chaired by the prime minister, it was principally decided that the project of linking Thar Coal Mines with rail network would be jointly executed by the federal and Sindh governments.

In this regard, Prime Minister Shehbaz and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah would sign a Memorandum of Understanding today (Wednesday).

The prime minister told the meeting that the development projects needed to be completed with “Pakistan Speed” as the previous government had inflicted irreparable loss to the country during last four years.

He said the government was trying to revive the development course which the previous government had deliberately kept halted during 2018 to 2022.

“During our previous governments, we accomplished the development projects within record period. What to talk of launching new development projects, the previous government halted the ongoing ones wasting the public money as a grave conspiracy,” he remarked.

He said with the linking of Thar Coal Mines with railway network, local coal would be used in power plants replacing the imported one.

The premier said the usage of Thar coal in power plants would help save $2 billion annually.

The meeting was told that after the linking of Thar Coal Mines with rail network, the local coal would be utilized not only the power plants of Jamshoro and Port Qasim but also other power plants and industries in the country to save the public money.

The prime minister instructed the authorities concerned to accelerate the work on the said project to complete it by March 2023.

Federal ministers Ishaq Dar, Ahsan Iqbal, Khurram Dastgir, special assistants to PM Jahanzeb Khan, Zafaruddin Mahmood, and senior officers attended the meeting. Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah joined the meeting via video link.