Ferquently Asked Questions

Pakistan is situated between latitude 33° 42 ́ North and longitude 73° 10 ́ East. On the west border of the country is Iran, India is on the east, Afghanistan in the north-west, China in the north and the Arabian Sea is on the south. Pakistan has a strategically advantageous location vis-à-vis being a geographical centre of the Asian Continent. Forming a bridge between the Middle East and the Far East, Pakistan can be a hub for trade and communication. A wide transportation network complements this strategic placement. With three major international airports and 38 domestic airports, Pakistan serves more than 50 international airlines. Pakistan also has Karachi, Port-Qasim and Gawadar sea ports.

Pakistan has a continental type of climate, characterized by extreme variations of temperature. Very high altitudes modify the climate in the cold, snow-covered northern mountains. Temperatures on the Balochistan Plateau are somewhat higher. Along the coastal strip the climate is tempered by sea breezes. In the rest of the country temperatures rise steeply in the summer and hot winds blow across the plains during the day. The daily variation in temperature may be as much as 11 °C to 17 °C. Winters are cold with minimum mean temperature of about 4 °C  in January.

Punjab also spelled Panjab, is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 55.06% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir (Azad Kashmir, Pakistan and Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir) to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the south, the province of Balochistan to the southwest, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, and the Islamabad Capital Territory to the north. The Punjab is home to the Punjabis and various other groups. The main languages are Punjabi and Saraiki and the dialects of Mewati and Potohari. The name Punjab derives from the Persian words Panj (Five), and Āb (Water), i.e. (the) Five Waters - referring to five tributaries of the Indus River from which is also the origin of the name of "India" - these being Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, that flow through the larger Punjab.

Punjab is the most developed, most populous, and most prosperous province of Pakistan. Lahore has traditionally been the capital of Punjab for a thousand years; it is Punjab's main cultural, historical, administrative and economic center. Historically, the Punjab region has been the gateway to the Indian subcontinent for people from Greece, Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan and Vice-versa. Due to its strategic location, it has been part of various empires and civilizations throughout history, including the Indus Valley Civilization, Vedic civilization, Mauryans, Kushans, Scythians, Guptas, Greeks, Persians, Arabs, Turks, Mongols, Timurids, Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs and the British.

Power shortage had been one of the chronic problems hampering Pakistan's socio-economic growth since late 1980s; the problem had assumed such acute dimensions that power supply fell short of demand by almost 2000 MW during peak load hours. On a routine basis, this resulted in forced interruptions in the supply of electricity to consumers during peak hours resulting in load shedding. The unreliable power supply shattered the industrial progress. There was a gap between demand and supply due to the rapid increase in electricity demand (estimated to be growing at a rate of 7-8 % per annum at that time).

This situation called for immediate intervention by the GOP through adoption of policy measures aimed at massive resource mobilization for investment in the power/energy sector. The enormous quantum of required investment compared with the constrained funding potential of the national exchequer, was not conducive to allocation of scarce GOP funds for power/energy. Therefore, the GOP took a bold initiative in late 80s to induct private sector investment in the power sector.