ISLAMABAD: The 50,000-megawatt Thar Coal Power Generation Project has been closed down due to lack of interest on part of the government. Work on all power projects was being delayed due to non-provision of funds by the government. Thar Coal Power Project, which aimed at overcoming electricity shortfall in the country, was launched by the previous government. Through this project, not only thousands of megawatts were to be produced, but it would have also provided one billion barrel diesel annually for the next 100 years. However, the government has not allocated funds for this project in the budget of current fiscal year, therefore, work on the project has been suspended. Sources said influential owners of private power plants in the country wanted closure of this project and had set up lobbies for this purpose. These elements were highly influential in the government circles; therefore work has been stopped on this project. The interest of these private power companies has been kept deliberately ahead of the national interest. Sources reveal that a team of 250 engineers, including Dr Samar Mubarak Mand, was working on this project, adding that payment amounting to Rs 17 million was made to them annually on account of salaries while the issue of disbursement of salaries would arise within a few months due to lack of funds. It is pertinent to mention that the government had installed an 8-megawatt pilot project in 2015, which was generating electricity successfully. This project was to yield 100 megawatts electricity in 2016 but it could be closed due to shortage of funds. Work could not be executed on this project last year as well due to shortage of funds while only salaries were paid to employees, amounting to Rs 300 million, released by government. Sources said there were two major causes behind the lack of interest by the government. A meeting on climate changes was held in Paris last year, which was attended by heads of over 153 states. It was given a clear message in the conference that no work should be carried out on any power based project in future and number of ongoing power projects be curtailed so that people could be protected against the ill effects of climate change. The second reason was that the IMF has asked the government to place focus on clean energy instead of coal based power project so that global warming could be averted. Sources said that the government was not looking serious with regard to Thar Coal Power Project and was only interested in completing its tenure and handing over this project to the next government. The 100-megawatt Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park Project was also on the way to meet failure, as it was only generating 25 megawatts electricity. The experts said that feasibility report was the major reason behind failure of this solar park project, as Bahawalpur was not a suitable area for launching this project. They were of the view that the government installed this project in Bahawalpur without any vision, and only for point scoring.