China will build a US$300 million hydroelectric power plant in neighbouring Tajikistan to help alleviate frequent energy shortages in the Central Asian nation, Tajik Energy Minister Sherali Gul said on Wednesday.

The agreement was reached during talks between Chinese leader Hu Jintao and Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon, he said.
Hu is in Tajikistan for the Thursday summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Gul said the planned power plant, Nurobad-2, would have capacity of between 160 and 200 megawatts.

The Government has made arrangements to expedite work on a new power supply project for the Ratnapura District at a cost of Rs. 4,500 million. Upon completion of the project within 2009, all families in the district will have access to electricity.
This project was initiated under the Electricity for All programme launched by the Power and Energy Ministry.

It is difficult not to miss the irony.

Police are doing more patrolling on bikes here, while elsewhere across America small towns are taking unusual measures to rein in rising energy costs. One Connecticut town plans to put century-old dams back to work generating electricity, while other communities are telling workers to turn off their vehicles when stopped, instead of letting them idle. Gasoline and heating oil prices have soared, electricity has grown more expensive and health-care costs keep rising, prompting municipalities to do what they can to cut costs.

Most of the southern and western States, and even the normally surplus States in the north-east, are now going through a major power crisis. Power generation has suffered because of poor hydel storage, thanks to a truant monsoon. Compounding the problem, States that usually come to the help of large consumers in such a predicament have themselves run into difficulties in thermal generation on account of vagaries in coal supply. As a result, States like Maharahstra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala have to contend with a major shortage.

The Director General (DG), Wapda, Tahir Basharat Cheema has said that government, using coal as fuel, is planning to set up 5000 MW power generation plant within the next few years. He said this while speaking at a ceremony arranged by Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He said that the country's survival largely depends on proper use of its coal reserves. '184 billion tonnes of coal reserves were available in Thar area alone', Cheema said. He expressed concern over the fact that Pakistan was generating only 0.1 percent electricity from coal.