Neelum-Jhelum project: Pakistan, OFID sign $15m loan deal

Project aimed to meet growing electric power demand through improved access to electricity and reliable power supply.

WASHINGTON: Pakistan and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) entered into a loan agreement, under which the OFID would provide $50 million for the completion of the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower plant project. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and OFID director general signed the agreement. The objective of the original project is the construction of a hydroelectric power plant, involving the diversion of the Neelum River through an underground tunnel system. The project is aimed at meeting growing electric power demand through improved access to electricity and reliable power supply while boosting the share of hydro-generated power in the overall mix of electricity generation of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2013.