Diamir Bhasha Dam to pump Rs60b into economy: Chairman Wapda Shakil Ahmed Durrani

[LahoreEstate]

LAHORE- Chairman Wapda Shakil Ahmed Durrani has said that the completion of Diamir Bhasha dam would pump Rs 60 billion into the national economy per annum through value addition.
“We don’t have any finance problem for this project. The funds for this project are available. The Asian Development Bank had offered $3 billion while one million dollars were given by the United States. They are extending financial support due to the democratic government in Pakistan,” Durrani told The Nation after attending an Iftar dinner hosted in his honour by MD Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Irfan K Qureshi here on Wednesday.
Durrani further said that the Dam would cost $11.3 billion and would have the capacity to store six Million Acre Feet (MAF).
“This project will generate 4500 MW electricity with gross water storage capacity of 8.4 Million Acre Feet (MAF), he said, adding, we can add Rs one billion into the national economy per year by building this dam to store one million acre feet water.
Responding to a question, Durrani said that they were seriously considering to sign an agreement with Pakistan Railways for the supply of furnace oil to the PEPCO.
“We are on it. The rates of railways are very low while its efficiency is very good. We could also get rid of the cartel of oil tankers who often disturb supply-line in favour of their unjustified demands,” he maintained.
MD PEPCO Tahir Basharat Cheema, GM Thermal Khalid Rashid, Chief Financial Officer Pepco Razi Abbas, Mustafa Tuniv, GM PSO Sajjad Khan Shahani, Zulifqar Jaffari, DGM PSO Sajjad Ali Gardazi, Member Finance Wapda Chaudhry Abdul Qadir, Ijaz A Babar, and Ibad Ali Shah were also present on this occasion.

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