By IANS,
Islamabad : Reeling under an acute power shortage, Pakistan intends to buy more elecctricity from neighbouring Iran to supply coastal areas in Balochistan – where its new deep sea port of Gwadar is coming up, a media report said.
Talks are on with Iran to buy another 70 MW of power and a delegation, led by Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) Rasool Khan Mehsud is heading for Tehran to carry forward the discussions, the Urdu daily Jang reported.
The report cited official sources as saying that Pakistan is already buying 35 MW power from Iran to supply areas on the Makran coast (Balochistan) at about 5 cents per unit, and now intends to buy more.
If a new agreement is reached at the talks slated for Tuesday, then Pakistan will initially purchase 35 MW and the other 35 MW later, the sources said. The additional power is meant for supplying the same coastal areas.
According to sources, the biggest advantage of purchasing power from Iran was that no additional cost was incurred on laying new transmission lines.
“Iranian transmission lines are already located quite near the Pakistan border,” the sources said.