The Thar Coal Block-II project will start electricity production by June 2019, as more than 50 per cent work on its coal-based power plant has been completed, Radio Pakistan reported.

The work on power plant having a capacity of 1,320 megawatts was underway in full swing, the report quoted a company’s representative as saying.

The power projects which are being completed as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project will be helpful in meeting the energy needs of the country.

The project is also said to benefit the Thar and its people on a large scale and is expected to change the face of the area and develop it into a prosperous region.

Thar Coal Block-II project was one of the largest energy schemes of Pakistan with a promised investment of $2 billion.

The company is setting up mine-mouth power plants of 330 megawatts each at Thar Coal Block-II, which will fully capable of running 100 per cent on Thar coal.

It would be mining 7.6 million tonnes per annum of coal from the open-pit mine which will reduce the coal tariff substantially.

— Photos by Tauseef Razi Mallick.