The stage will take five years to complete and the World Bank will provide $700 million for this stage. Pakistan is expected to get a loan of $700 million on May 24, a senior official who attended the meeting told The News.
When asked if the government had compromised on the Diamer-Bhasha Dam for the Dasu project before the World Bank’s management, the official explained that Bhasha Dam is still a priority project and the second phase of Dasu project is linked with the construction of Bhasha. The second phase of Dasu Dam will give dividends when the water storage of Bhasha Dam gets completed as its water will also help generate electricity at the site of Dasu under the second phase.
“The World Bank is willing to fund the Dasu Dam so the government decided to first initiate a project for which funding was available,” the official said.It is pertinent to mention that the World Bank had earlier refused to fund the Diamer-Bhasha Dam saying it is situated in the disputed territory of Gilgit-Baltistan and if Pakistan wants the funding, then it should seek an NoC from India.
The cost of stage-1 of Dasu hydropower project, the official said, stands at Rs486.093 billion with FEC of Rs218.547 billion. It will be located at District Upper Kohistan, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa.
The Dasu Hydropower Project is designed for 4,320MW power generation comprising two stages (2,160MW each) on the Indus River. The Stage I envisages the construction of 2,160MW power project and acquisition of land, including resettlement, construction of offices, colonies, project access roads and pre-construction activities. This phase will be completed in five years. Once completed, the project will generate electricity at a unit cost of Rs2.14/kWh.
Ecnec also constituted a committee comprising representatives from ministries of planning, development & reform, water & power, finance, Wapda and the government of KP to monitor the issues relating to land acquisition for ensuring propriety of the land cost. It was further decided that the ministry of water and power would confirm that an NoC from the concerned EPA has been obtained.
Ecnec also approved 34.5MW Harpo Hydro Power Project at the modified cost of Rs9.5 billion with FEC of Rs6.1 billion. The location of the project is at Harpo Lungma, District Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, and the executing agency will be Water and Power Development Authority. It will be completed in four years. The AFD of France and Kfw of Germany will finance the project through a loan of 70 million Euros. The additional cost will be met from Wapda’s own resources. The project cost includes construction of 132KV double circuit transmission lines from the project site to Skardu.
The finance minister said on the occasion that energy is an essential ingredient for socio-economic development and economic growth. He said that hydropower is low cost, environment friendly source of electricity. He added that the government, in line with the vision of PML-N leadership, would make use of the potential of the natural resources of the country for the benefit of the people.
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