HAVELI BAHADUR SHAH (JHANG): Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Saturday said that the government had successfully accomplished the mission of load-shedding free Pakistan rather it had launched the projects to suffice the country’s power needs till 2030.

Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of 1263-megawatt Punjab Power Plant here in Haveli Bahadur Shah area of Jhang district, the prime minister said currently there was no load-shedding in the country except in the areas where the cases of power theft were being reported.

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Minister for Power Awais Khan Leghari and Minister of State for Power Chaudhry Abid Sher Ali accompanied the prime minister as they earlier unveiled the plaque to launch work on the project that would complete in two phases. Ambassadors of China and Germany also attended the ceremony.

The first phase of the LNG-fuelled project would complete in 14 months and generate 810MW electricity while after completion of the second phase in 26 months, the power production would reach total 1263 MW.

The prime minister said the power project initiated by the Pakistan Peoples Party government could not produce a single kilowatt electricity even after 30 months rather indebted the country by Rs 80 billion. Contrarily, the incumbent government executed four projects in 20 months to contribute around 3600 MW of electricity to the national grid, he added.

He spoke high of the Punjab chief minister for overseeing the execution of four liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plants saying the country could never have overcome load-shedding in the absence of those plants.

The prime minister said it was only the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government that not only launched the development projects but also ensured their completion.