Local financing worth Rs144b secured for Dasu project

Consortium of major banks agrees to provide funds for WAPDA

LAHORE: The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has secured Rs144 billion for Dasu Hydropower Project by signing an agreement for debt financing with a consortium of major local banks, led by Habib Bank Limited (HBL).

The agreement, inked at the Wapda House on Wednesday, marked the largest loan deal for any public sector enterprise in Pakistan’s history.

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Wapda Chairman Lt Gen (Retired) Muzammil Hussain, HBL President Nauman Dar, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) President Saeed Ahmed Khan and representatives of other banks in the consortium signed the agreement.

“Today is a historic day for the development of hydroelectric power resources in Pakistan. This agreement reflects the confidence of financial institutions in the financial strength of Wapda,” said the Wapda chairman.

He apprised the audience that the 4,320-megawatt Dasu Hydropower Project would be completed in two stages. Each stage will generate 2,160 megawatts of electricity.

Stage-I will be completed in five years at an estimated cost of $4.2 billion. The World Bank is providing a credit of $1 billion, while remaining funds are being arranged by Wapda from its own resources and with the help of government’s sovereign guarantees.

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Apart from the local financing of Rs144 billion, a foreign loan of $350 million had also been arranged and an agreement would be signed very soon, said the Wapda chairman.

Referring to the under-construction water and hydroelectric power projects of Wapda, he said with concerted efforts over the past six months impediments to these projects had been removed and they were now fast nearing their completion.

According to Hussain, phase-I of the Kachhi Canal will be completed between August and December 2017, which would irrigate 72,000 acres of land in Balochistan.

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“Wapda will also complete the 969-megawatt Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project, 1,410-megawatt Tarbela 4th Extension Hydropower Project and 106-megawatt Golen Gol Hydropower Project from the close of 2017 to mid-2018.”