Sino Sindh Resources (Private) Limited (SSRL) has successfully extracted lignite coal from the coal pit of Block 1 in the Thar coalfields near Islamkot. It is expected that the coal extracted will be used for the production of electricity which will be sufficient to fulfill the requirements of the country.
Block 1 is Pakistan’s largest coal mine with reserves of over 3 billion tons (or over 5 billion barrels of crude oil equivalent) with annual output of 7.8 million tons per annum in just the first phase alone. Block 1 is owned and operated by SSRL, whose majority shareholder is Shanghai Electric Group.
Another major benefit of using this coal will be that it will reduce the dependence on imported coal for the production of electricity in the country. Thar Block 1 is classified as an “Early Harvest Project – EHP” under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is a flagship project of China’s historic Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
It is pertinent to mention here that globally use of coal for the production of electricity is frowned upon. In the recent Paris accord it was decided that use of coal for the production of electricity has to be completely eliminated from the world by 2040 due to the excessive amount of carbon dioxide produced in the process and the dire impact it has on the environment
