Pak to construct two nuclear power plants with Chinese help

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has given a go ahead for construction of two more nuclear power plants of 340 MW each with the Chinese help at the Chashma complex at a cost of $2.37 billion, a media report said on Monday.

The two plants, to be supplied by China, will involve a foreign exchange component of $1.75 billion, the Business Recorder newspaper quoted its sources as saying.

The government has approved the proposal, but it was not made part of the formal agenda of a recent meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council and was distributed among members of the panel and provincial officials at the end of the meeting without necessary details, the sources were quoted as saying.

"Please do not seek any details and clarification about the project. Approve it in the national interest," one official reportedly told the committee's meeting.

China had agreed in principle to provide two nuclear power plants to help meet Pakistan's growing electricity needs and was about to sign an agreement during a visit by the Chinese President to Islamabad.

However, China shelved the project after the issue was reported in the media, arguing that it would not indulge in any controversy, sources said.