MANSEHRA, July 17: Two provincial ministers from Mansehra have spelt out the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government's plan to put the province on path of prosperity and overcome the energy crisis.

“First time in the history of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the government would invest in the small and medium hydropower projects and besides meeting its energy needs would also earn an amount of Rs55 billion annually,” said Shujah Salim Khan, Minister for Food, while speaking at a press conference here on Sunday. Minister for Industry Syed Ahmad Hussain Shah was also present on the occasion.

Mr Salim said that the small and medium hydropower projects (HPP) would be installed at every nook and corner of the province. He said that the HPP would be installed at all most all the rivers flowing in the province.

The ministers said that four industrial estates would be established in Mansehra, Haripur and Abbottabad for which Rs900 million had been earmarked in the budget. “Beside other benefits to people and the government, over 0.5 million people would get employment at these four industrial estates,” remarked Mr Salim Khan.

The provincial ministers said that the government was now giving due attention to the technical education and more technical colleges would be established where needed.

They said out of Rs110 billion royalty of the Tarbela dam the federal government had released an amount of Rs35 billion which would be spent on the developmental projects.