Pakistan strives to secure $1b for Bhasha Dam

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan is aggressively pursuing arrangements to secure $1 billion promptly to progress towards achieving financial closure for the strategic Diamer Basha Dam project. Sources indicate the country needs approximately $3.5 billion for this purpose.

During the recent visit of Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar to Kuwait, Pakistan and the gulf state had signed an agreement to raise capital for the project.

Diamer Basha Dam is a multi-purpose hydropower project which upon completion will provide a significant boost to the country's economy through generation of around 18 billion units annually of environmentally clean and affordable electricity and a live storage capacity of 6.4 MAF of water.

Officials said the project is in its preliminary stages of construction and funds of around $3.5 billion are required to achieve financial close, with a requirement of $1 billion in the near future.

Sources said an agreement with Kuwait on investment cooperation would help to raise the capital for the project through equity participation in the Ghazi Barotha Hydropower Project (GBHPP).

Pakistan has been struggling to raise funding for the strategic Diamer Basha dam since long.

Multilateral donors had refused to give financing for this project due to lobbying by India that the project falls in a dispute area. However, during the recent years, Pakistan has been actively working on this project and now is nearing to achieve its financial close.

But Pakistan requires immediate financing of $1 billion in the near future to continue work on this dam.

For decades, Pakistan had not been able to complete mega water projects like Diamer Basha. In addition to raising capital for the dam, Pakistan is also working on some other projects as well.

During the visit of PM Kakar, Pakistan and the State of Kuwait signed different agreements for collaboration and investment in various sectors of the economy.

Read WAPDA chairman reviews Diamer-Basha Dam Project diversion system

The caretaker minister had recently informed the cabinet that Kuwait is a strategic partner of Pakistan and that there is tremendous potential for further strengthening economic relations between the two countries to the advantage of Pakistan.

So far the opportunities for collaboration with Kuwait have, regrettably, not been fully explored or availed, he added.

He elaborated that since Kuwait is a capital exporting country, Pakistan could benefit through Kuwaiti investment in many areas, especially hydropower, digital technology infrastructure, and climate change risk management.

The cabinet was informed that after due deliberations between the two sides, seven non-binding agreements—relating to expansion of water reservoirs, mining, protection and expansion of mangroves and investment projects in information technology and food security—had matured for signing.

These agreements were also signed between Pakistan and Kuwait during the recent visit of the caretaker prime minister. These projects would be implemented at the federal level, and where clearance was required from the provincial governments for provincial projects, it would be done in due course.

It was also informed that continuous monitoring of the projects would be carried out for their timely and efficient implementation.

The cabinet appreciated efforts of the relevant ministries for their proactive efforts and further directed the authorities concerned to ensure effective coordination and cooperation with the provinces, where necessary, for the smooth implementation of the projects under these agreements.