Setting a deadline to connect the Thar coal mines to the railroad network

News from October 6 says that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has told the government to connect Thar Coal Mines to the railway network by March 2023. Shehbaz gave the orders while he was in charge of a meeting to talk about how the project was coming along.

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The project would be run by both the federal government and the government of Sindh, according to the details. In this regard, Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah and PM Sharif will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). But no date was set for when this MoU would be signed.

During the meeting, the premier told the people in charge of development to speed up their work. He went on to say that the local coal will be used in power plants instead of coal that is brought in from other places if the Thar coal mines are connected to the railway network. The news source said that this plan will save USD 2 billion every year.

Federal Ministers Khurram Dastgir, Ahsan Iqbal, and Ishaq Dar were there, as well as Special Assistants to the PM Jahanzeb Khan and Zafaruddin Mahmood and senior officers. Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq and CM Murad Ali Shah joined the meeting through a video link.