The federal government has undertaken a number of hydropower projects in different parts of the country as part of its determined and committed efforts to maximise power generation and getting rid of the lingering menace of electricity load shedding at the earliest possible moment.
The Dasu hydropower project, located in district Kohistan in Khyber Pukhtoonkhwah (KPK) on Indus River upstream of Dasu town, is one of these projects, on which work is proceeding quite speedily to complete all formalities before actual construction work is taken in hand in the right earnest.
Dasu hydropower project is to be completed in two phases by 2021 and expected to generate 2100 megawatt of power. Two contracts worth Rs 180 billion have already been awarded to a Chinese firm for carrying out civil works in the first stage of the hydropower project.
For expediting work on Dasu hydropower project, in yet another significant development, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet in its recent meeting has approved the government guarantee for commercial financing of US $ 360 million from the international market under the partial guarantee of the World Bank for the Dasu hydropower project. According to the reports in the newspapers, this government guarantee has been approved on request from the Federal Ministry of Water and Power.
WAPDA has already secured a sum of Rs 144 billion under an agreement of local debt financing with a consortium of local banks led by Habib Bank which is reported to be the biggest single loan agreement for any public sector entity in the history of Pakistan.
AAMER A NAJMEE,
Lahore, May 3.