The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has approved Rs 486 billion for construction of Dasu hydro power project (stage-I) with a foreign exchange component of Rs 218 billion. The meeting chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar submitted a summary by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform for Dasu Hydro Power Project (stage-I) at rationalised cost of Rs 486,093.3 million with FEC of Rs 218.547 billion to be located at District Upper Kohistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Dasu Hydro Power Project is designed for 4,320MW in two stages with power generation of 2,160MW in each phase on the Indus River. The stage-I of the proposed project envisages the construction of 2,160MW 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 completed, 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 the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 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 will confirm that NOC from the concerned Environmental Protection Agency (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 Wapda. 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 line from project site to Skardu.
The finance minister said energy is an essential ingredient for socio-economic development and economic growth. He said hydro power is low cost, environment-friendly source of electricity. He added that the government, in line with the vision of PML-N leadership, will make use of the potential of the natural resources of the country for the benefit of the people. The meeting was attended by Khawaja Mohammad Asif, Minister for Water and Power, Pervaiz Rashid, 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, Minister of State Petroleum, Mohammad Zubair, Chairman Privatisation Commission, Syed Murad Ali Shah, Advisor to Chief Minister Sindh on Finance, federal secretaries and senior officials of the federal and provincial governments.
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