ISLAMABAD - The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Friday approved 4320-megawatt Dasu Hydro Power Project (Stage-I) at rationalised cost of Rs.486.09 billion including Foreign Exchange Component (FEC) of Rs.218.55 billion
The Ecnec, which was chaired by Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, has discussed the Dasu Hydro Power Project at Prime Minister’s Office. The Ecnec has approved the Stage-I of the Dasu Hydro Power Project costing Rs 486.09 billion, which also included Rs 218.55 billion FEC, mainly financing by World Bank.
The overall cost of Dasu Hydro Power Project is Rs 735 billion wherein World Bank would provide $700 million. The previous cost of project was around Rs 685 billion, which increases mainly due to the rupee deprecation in last few months. The Project, having capacity of generating 4320-megawatt electricity, would be completed in two parts. The Stage-I (2160MW) would be located at District Upper Kohistan, Khyber Paktunkhwa and Stage-II (2160MW) on Indus River.
The Stage I of the proposed project envisages the construction of 2160MW Dasu Hydro Power project and acquisition of land including resettlement, construction of offices, colonies, project access roads and pre-construction activities. The stage I will be completed in a period of five years. Once complete, Dasu Power Project will generate electricity at a unit cost of Rs.2.14/kWh.
The Ecnec also constituted a Committee comprising representatives from Ministries of Planning, Development & Reform, Water & Power, Finance, WAPDA and 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 NOC from the concerned EPA has been obtained.
The Ecnec also approved 34.5MW Harpo Hydro Power Project at a modified cost of Rs.9.5 billion with FEC of Rs.6.1 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 project site to Skardu.
The Finance Minister, on the occasion, said 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.
The meeting was attended by Kh. Mohammad Asif, Minister for Water and Power, Pervaiz Rshid, Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Planning and Development, Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi, Minister for Industries & Production, Ms Anusha Rehman, Minister of State for Information Technology, Jam Kamal Khan, MOS Petroleum, Mohammad Zubair, Chairman Privatisation Commission, Syed Murad Ali Shah, Advisor to CM Sindh on Finance, Federal Secretaries and senior officials of the federal and provincial governments.