Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Friday said his government was committed to completing all power projects on schedule, so as to rid the country of frequent power outages and boost industrial growth.

The Prime Minister is personally overseeing the mega Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP), designed to produce 969 MW of hydel electricity and lessen reliance on thermal power generation.

Following a detailed briefing on the project, the Prime Minister directed further speeding up the work so as to hasten the pace of national progress and development.

"We will do our best to fulfil the promises made to the nation, to end loadshedding from the country," the Prime Minister said.

"Who would be more worried than me," Nawaz Sharif said and added "we would not let any obstacle come in the way, in this regard."

Nawaz also directed that the locals be given preference in jobs in the Neelum Jhelum project. The Chief Executive Officer of the project informed the prime minister that 78 per cent jobs have been given to the locals.

The project envisages diversion of Neelum waters through tunnels at Nauseri about 41 kms upstream of Muzaffarabad and draining the waters in Jhelum River at Chatter Kalas in AJK, where the powerhouse will be located.

The project would produce 969 MW through its four turbines of 242.25 MW each, generating 5,150 GWh (5.15 billion units) annually.

The project was launched on January 2008 and was likely to be completed by mid of 2017 and was being executed by the China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC).

Nawaz, who was accompanied with Ministers for Finance Ishaq Dar, Water and Power, Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Information Pervez Rashid, was given a detailed briefing on the progress in the project.

He was informed that over 85.3 per cent of work has been completed, while efforts were underway to complete it on time.

Wapda Chairman Zafar Mahmood informed the Prime Minister that the work on tunnels was in the last stages of completion while half of the steel-lining has also been completed. He was informed that structural work on the dam and its spillway has also been fully completed.

AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, Minister for Kashmir Affairs Birjees Tahir, Special Assistant on Political Affairs Dr Asif Kirmani were also present on the occasion. -APP