Director, Saif Group of Companies and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kohat Textile Mills (KTM), Barrister Assad Saifullah Khan has planned to invest Rs.2 billion more to expand its role in value-added sector of textile industry, said a press release issued here on Sunday.
He was addressing a ceremony held in connections with the inauguration of the KP’s first 1MW Solar Clean & Green Energy Project in Kohat Textile Mills at Kohat. The Solar Park has been developed by Sky Electric (Pvt) Limited with the support of Bank of Khyber and Meezan Bank.
The project was inaugurated by KP Minister for Finance, Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra. Chairman, KP Textile Mills Association, Salim Saifullah Khan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sky Electric Private Limited, Osman Saifullah Khan, Aly Saifullah Khan and a large number of business community and local elites also attended the ceremony.
He said the investment will not only enable the company to enter into exports, rather will also generate employment opportunities in KP and add foreign exchange to national exchequer. Assad Saifullah Khan said that solar energy is an alternate source of energy that generate ample electricity and also reduces pollution. He said, Pakistan has immense potential for generating electricity through solar. However, the country currently produces meager electricity (1.16%) through solar power and 64% with fossil fuels.
He said that the country has set a target to add approximately 10 GW of renewable capacity by 2030 in addition to replacing diesel with biodiesel by 10% by 2025.
He said that moving towards sustainable energy resources will not only reduce the effects of global warming, rather will also reduce the import bill of fuel for energy production.
Jubilant over the completion of the project, he said 1MW solar project, which 25% of the total electricity requirement of the mill on one hand is environment friendly and on the other hand will reduce the cost of production. In next 4-5 years, he said they would shift whole electricity requirement of the mill to clean and green solar energy.
Kohat Textile Mills Limited started with capacity of 12,480 spindles had now increased to more than 3 folds and created job opportunity for over 40,000 persons.
The unit has become an economic guarantor of thousands of people and playing landmark role in the economic development of Pakistan. The mill is playing crucial role in textile sector by producing yarn- a raw material for the value-added textile sector. In past four years, the company has invested more than Rs.1 billion.
