Minister Planning Asad Umar has said that the federal government will provide support to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the citizens of Karachi.

He stated this while chairing a special meeting held in Islamabad on Monday to review the future electricity demand-supply outlook of Karachi.

The meeting deliberated upon the possible measures to supply additional electricity to Karachi through the national grid to meet the future requirements.

Asad Umar directed the concerned quarters to look into the commercial aspects of various projects and to remove any bottlenecks in the construction of new grid stations.

The forum was informed that the electricity demand in Karachi was expected to rise to almost 4100 MW by 2023, and thus, would require additional 1300 MW to meet the future requirements.

The meeting was informed that to meet the future requirements of Karachi, Cabinet Committee on Energy had given the requisite approvals for the supply of 500MW from K2/K3 project. The meeting was also briefed about the commissioning of new gas plants to replace the old thermal power plants running at low efficiency.

The meeting concluded that by FY 2023, 1400 MW of electricity could be supplied to Karachi through the construction and up gradation of grid stations at Karachi West and Bin Qasim.