Bilawal challenges 'system has failed' narrative, cites Tharparkar’s development

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari spoke on Monday at a ceremony in Tharparkar, inaugurating Phase III of the Thar Coal Project's Block II. He rejected claims that Pakistan's system had collapsed, pointing to Tharparkar's development as proof of the system's success. Bilawal argued that those claiming the system had failed should give Islamabad over to the people of Tharparkar, who would fix it.

He criticized efforts to create new provinces and dismissed the notion that the country's system had collapsed. Bilawal suggested that a political party dominated by "political orphans" was "busy doing politics of hate, division and Zionism in Karachi." He hailed Tharparkar's development as an "archetype of the success" of the country's system and the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

The PPP chairman stated that Thar's infrastructure, health, and education systems had improved, and progress had been made in all aspects. Thar's coal project generates 14 percent of the national grid's electricity and is the cheapest. Bilawal criticized experts in Islamabad who had previously dismissed Thar's coal as useless. Phase III of the Thar Coal Project will increase production capacity from 7.6 million tonnes to 11.2 million tonnes annually, reducing the cost of electricity generated from Sindh's local coal by three times compared to imported coal.

The project will enable Lucky Electric's 660-megawatt power plant to run on Thar coal, increasing total electricity generation from Thar to 1,980 megawatts. Phase III will result in annual savings of approximately Rs15 billion in electricity generation costs, saving Pakistan around $220 million annually in additional foreign exchange. The Thar Coal Project is an example of public-private partnership in Pakistan's mining sector.