Privatization process ongoing as planned: Muhammad Mian Soomro

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Privatization Muhammad Mian Soomro on Friday said that the process to privatize national entities is ongoing and no delay is being made in the timeline for privatization of power plants and other entities, ARY NEWS reported.

He said that although the government has prioritize provision of health facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, the privatization process is also ongoing as planned.

“We are trying to privatize Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant and all information regarding its sale is uploaded on the virtual data room,” he said.

The minister said that they are in constant touch with national and international financial institutions and concerned investment companies. All operations are carried out using the e-filing and e-link processes, he said.

Soomro said that a meeting was held under the Chair of Chairman National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to decide matters pertaining to the tariff of the power plants to be privatized.

Chairman Priv

atization Commission will also chair a meeting via video link regarding privatization of power plants as the final bidding on the 28 properties of the federal-owned properties is postponed due to the ongoing situation.

“The privatization process is interlinked with the ongoing situation in the national and international markets,” he said adding that all transactions are on the advance stage and the process would be expedited as soon as the situation returns to normal.

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On February 17, Federal Minister and Privatization Commission Chairman Muhammad Mian Soomro said that they were moving towards the privatization of Balloki and Bahadur shah power plants located in the Punjab province by April this year.

The chairman announced that initially the 1223 MW Balloki power plant in Chunian and  a RLNG-based Bahadur Shah power plant in Haveli area would be privatized.

“The prime minister is apprised of the developments made regarding the privatization of the two plants,” he said.

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