Chinese power plants to be asked to use local coal sources: Leghari

Islamabad: Minister for Power Awais Leghari has said that Chinese power plants operating in Pakistan will be asked to shift to using coal from Thar region rather than imported coal.

In an interview with Reuters, Awais Leghari said conversion of imported coal units to the local coal will have a huge impact on the cost of energy in the near future.

He said such a transition will benefit the Chinese-owned plants in Pakistan by reducing pressure on Islamabad's foreign exchange reserves.

The transition can save Pakistan more than 200 billion rupees a year in imports, translating to a decrease of as much as 2.5 rupees per unit in the price of electricity.