ISLAMABAD, (Raja Furqan Ahmed): Minister for Power Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan has said that the agreement for the supply of coal from Afghanistan to Pakistan for coal-fired power plants will be finalized soon. Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, he said a Pakistani delegation will visit Kabul after Eid to finalize the agreement and we are trying to start a coal supply operation from Afghanistan round-the-clock. About the load-shedding situation, the Minister said following the current rain spell, the electricity supply situation has improved as the Tarbela dam is at its optimal production of 3,684 megawatts of electricity as compared to only 1100 MW on the 1st of this month. He said there is an average electricity shortfall of 4000 to 5000 MW. Khurram Dastgir said the refuelling of the K2 nuclear power plant is underway and will be completed soon adding 1100 MW of electricity in the national grid. He said this will further reduce load shedding in the country. The Minister refuted the speculations about the increase in the price of electricity saying the government has not increased prices so far though there was a proposal from NEPRA.
