Islamabad: The National Assembly was informed Wednesday that power generation from four dams will start by the end of this financial year that will add 155 megawatt of electricity to the national grid.
Minister of State for Water and Power Tasneem Ahmad Qureshi told the House during question hour that construction work on these projects including Mangla Dam Raising Project, Satpara Dam, Gomal Zam Dam and Darawat Dam is underway and at the final stage.
To another question, the Minister of State said South Korea is cooperating with Pakistan in the projects of Water and Power and has shown interest in development of Hydro Power Projects in Pakistan.
He said under the programme a 147 megawatt Patrind Hydropower Project on River Kunhar at the border between Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province will be completed by 2016.
He said the project will be completed at a cost of 69 billion rupees with Korean company share of 26 billion rupees and government of Pakistan share of 43 billion rupees.
To a question, Minister for Textile Industry Makhdoom Shahabuddin told the House that government is taking long term and short term steps to increase cotton production in the country.
He said high yielding varieties with good fiber characteristics are being introduced and availability of certified cotton seed will be ensured to increase the cotton production.
He said it is expected that cotton production would decrease this year as compared to the last year due to less irrigation water availability at the time of sowing.
To another question, Makhdoom Shahabuddin said that Ministry of Textile Industry is establishing Pakistan Textile city on 1250 acres land in the eastern zone of Port Qasim Authority, Karachi to provide state of art fully developed plots of various sizes for the textiles sector.
He said presently there is no proposal for establishment of any other Textile City in the country.
Replying to a question, Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shad said the Hajj affairs are being regulated under Hajj Policy of the government. He said the Hajj Policy for Hajj2013 is being formulated and would be submitted to the Cabinet for approval.
The Minister said that the Ministry would propose the Hajj expenses for Hajj2013 after the agreement with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is signed and fare is finalized with air line.
To a question, Parliamentary Secretary for Industries Syed Haider Ali Shah told the House that a bailout package of 14.6 billion rupees has been given to Pakistan Steel Mills. He said the release of the package will be completed by April next year.