ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Power Muhammad Hashim Notezai on Tuesday informed Senate that the government was trying hard to reduce power load-shedding in the country. Responding to questions during Question Hour in the Senate, the minister said that efforts were being made to correct technical faults and arrange fuel, in sufficient quantity, for power plants to fulfill electricity needs of the country. He said that during last five years, PSDP funds have not been allocated to Karachi Electric (KE) for transmission lines from Karachi to Lasbela. The minister said that KE was rehabilitating existing 132kV Transmission-Line from Hub Chowki to Vinder, 66kV Transmission Line from Vinder to Bela grid in phased-manner. Under phase-1, over 97 % of the project had been completed and phase-1 was expected to be completed by June 2022. While under phase-II, over 92% of the project had been completed and phase-II was expected to be completed by September 2022. Hashim Notezai said that KE was planning to construct new transmission lines and upgrade grids in Vinder, Uthal and Bela from 66 kV to 132 kV level in order to further strengthen its network in Balochistan region as part of KE’s investment plan. The minister of state said that in this respect, project plan was shared with government of Balochistan. However, the project’s execution was delayed owing to approval of Rights of Way (RoW) from the government of Balochistan and other agencies. He said that KE team was rigorously following up with the government of Balochistan for necessary approvals. Muhammad Hashim Notezai said that the above project would significantly help to improve reliability of power supply in the region and to fulfill future load demand in the region. He said that despite above challenges, KE was geared up to complete the project to ensure improve reliability of power supply in the region and seek support from provincial federal government on the matter. He said that the fuel charge adjustment was determined and notified by NEPRA with a lag of two months, adding that accordingly, the last four monthly fuel charge adjustment had been notified for the months of June 2022 –Oct- December 2021.