The announcement came after a cabinet meeting held in Balochistan. The meeting was also attended by the Balochistan governor, the chief minister, and federal and provincial ministers.

Also read: PM Shehbaz reaffirms Pakistan’s commitment to achieving SCO goals

On the occasion, the prime minister made it clear that without the progress of Balochistan, Pakistan’s overall progress would be incomplete. He said the federal government had sanctioned Rs500 billion for the tube wells project which would benefit 28,000 farmers. Seventy percent of the funding will come from the federal government, with the remaining thirty percent from the provincial government, he said.

The premier highlighted that the federal government has historically spent substantial sums of billions of rupees annually on electricity bills for Balochistan s tube wells. By transitioning to solar power, these costs will decrease, relieving the burden on the federal budget, he said and added that Balochistan had assured full commitment to the challenging task of converting 28,000 tube wells to solar systems within the specified timeframe.

Also read: PM orders action as Suno News draws attention to inflated bills

He said that that Pakistan currently operates one million tube wells on diesel, costing nearly 3.5 billion dollars annually. He maintained that plans are underway to swiftly implement a nationwide model for their conversion to solar energy.

Talking about education, he said that specific funds have been earmarked for Balochistan s educational institutions but the province’s broader challenges require more substantial financial support, comparable to other regions.