(PTI) Pakistan has given a go ahead for the construction of two more nuclear power plants of 340 MW each with the help of the Chinese at the Chashma complex at a cost of USD $2.37 billion, a media report stated today.
– Edited By Abby Gessner –
The two plants will be supplied by China, and will involve a foreign exchange component of USD $1.75 billion, the Business Recorder newspaper quoted their sources as saying.
While the government has approved the proposal, it was not made part of the formal agenda of a recent meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council and was distributed among the members of the panel and provincial officials at the end of the meeting without necessary details, the sources were said.
"Please do not seek any details and clarification about the project. Approve it in the national interest," one official reportedly told the committee's meeting.
China had agreed in principle to provide the two nuclear power plants to help meet Pakistan's growing electricity needs and was about to sign an agreement during a visit by the Chinese President to Islamabad. However, China shelved the project after the issue was reported in the media, arguing that it would not be a part of any controversy, sources said. PTI