The Secretary, Economic Affairs Division (EAD) signed the following agreements worth $565 million with the World Bank to support the projects in energy and water sectors: National Transmission Modernization (Phase-I) Project of US$425 million: The objective of the project is to increase the capacity and reliability of selected segments of the national transmission system in Pakistan and modernize key business processes of the national Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC).
The project will support investments in high-priority transmission infrastructure, information and communication technology (ICT), and technical assistance (TA) for improved management and operations. Infrastructure investments will create new assets or rehabilitate existing parts of the system transmission substations, transmission lines, or a combination of the two. The project will establish a robust ICT infrastructure and roll out an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to enhance the efficiency of management and operations. The TA will help the NTDC implement the project and will improve the company''s capacity for sustainable system operation, said a press release issued here on Wednesday.
The total Cost of the project is US$536.33 million. The World Bank will finance US$425 million and US$111.33m will be borne by the NTDC.
Sindh Barrages Improvement Project - Additional Financing of US$140 million: The project''s development objectives are to improve the reliability and safety of the Guddu barrage and strengthen the Sindh Irrigation Department''s capacity to operate and manage the barrage.
The additional financing will help to scale up activities under the original project (Sindh Barrages Improvement Project) whose scope at present is limited to rehabilitating and modernizing Guddu Barrage. With the AF, the project will support the rehabilitation and modernization of Sukkur Barrage and also support improving the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the three barrages over the Indus River in Sindh Province - Guddu, Sukkur, and Kotri Barrages - through better coordination and monitoring.
The total estimated amount of the additional finance required under the AF is US$152.2 million, which will be financed by the AF (US$140 million) and incremental counterpart funds (US$12.2 million) by the Government of Sindh.
Syed Ghazanfar Abbas Jilani, Secretary, Economic Affairs Division (EAD) signed the Loan Agreements on behalf of the Government of Pakistan while representatives of Government of Sindh and National Transmission Desptach Company Signe Patchamuthu Illangovan, Country Director, World Bank signed the Agreements on behalf of the World Bank.
The Secretary, Economic Affairs Division (EAD), thanked the World Bank for extending its continuous support to Government of Pakistan in its efforts to achieve sustainable economic development in the country.-PR
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