Karachi: Arib Habib Corporation Chairman, Arif Habib announced on Tuesday at the Karachi Press Club that his company will be establishing a 330-megawatt coal fired power plant in Thar, which will be located in block-II and will be funded by the Chinese.
Habib said his entity will soon be filing an application with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) for according a tariff for this project. This coal-fired power plant will come online by 2020-21 and he said that required financing in terms of equity and debt will be started in the next six months.
Till now four Thar coal based power projects having a cumulative capacity of 2,640MW have been approved which include 330MW Engro Powergen Thar, Thar Energy Ltd’s 330MW, ThalNova Power Thar’s 330MW. Also, Thar Coal Block-I Power Generation company will have two units having combined capacity of 1320MW.
Habib who also has headed the Pakistan Stock Exchange commented that political volatility had affected the stock market and was one of the main reason behind its fall. He added that Tahir-ul-Qadri’s call for a rally on his return on Tuesday would pave way to more uncertainty in the country and add to the stock market’s woes.
He also forecast the stock market recovery to continue after the removal of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif after a landmark Supreme Court ruling on the 28th of July. Habib highlighted that the speed of the stock market’s recovery may not be as quick like it was before this political situation and when PSX got reclassified as an MSCI emerging market.
