Pakistan's Nandipur power project to be revived

A bailout package for the 425MW Nandipur Thermal Power Project has been cleared by Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The plants machinery has been at the Karachi port for 18 months amid wrangling between the federal ministries of law, and water and power.

The opposition PML-N accused the government of delaying the project intentionally to cause power shortfalls in Punjab because the province is under its rule.

About 65 per cent of the construction work had been completed when the Rs29 billion project came to a halt two years ago after the Chinese contractor demobilised workers and machines from the site.

The prime minister wants the ministry of finance to advise the banking syndicate led by Habib Bank Ltd and National Bank to extend the validity of the letter of credit up to Sept 1, 2012 and release the withheld amount of Rs7 billion or $80 million so the project work could be restarted.

Some of the leading banks providing financing to the project include BNP Paribas, Hongkong Shanghai Bank Corporation and China Exim Bank.

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