ISLAMABAD: The multibillion dollar Diamer-Bhasha dam project has been put on the backburner as Pakistan has instead accepted a $2 billion World Bank offer for the construction of 4,320 megawatt Dasu hydropower project.
The World Bank and some other donors had asked Islamabad to seek a no-objection certificate from India to avail funding for Diamer Bhasha. They were reluctant to finance the Diamer Bhasha dam because it is being built in Gilgit-Baltistan a region that New Delhi claims is part of the disputed Himalayan region. Instead, they offered to fund the Dasu hydropower project.
Pakistan relented and accepted World Banks $2 billion offer for Dasu dam, which will be built on the Indus river in Kohistan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power was informed on Friday that a letter has been written to the finance ministry and economic affairs division to avail the financing.
We have asked the finance ministry to seek finances from the World Bank for the Dasu hydropower project, a water and power ministry official told the committee. He added that the bank would provide $800 million in the initial phase while the remaining amount would be provided with the assistance of the international donors consortium.
