Govt wants bifurcation of Diamir-Bhasha Dam
- September 19, 2013, 7:53 pm
- National News
- 99 Views
Islamabad, 19 September: Ahsan Iqbal, federal minister for planning and
development, has said that the government was aiming at unbundling
the Diamer-Basha dam project into two separate projects
In a statement issued from his office on Thursday he said that the project would be the two components including the dam for water storage, which will cost around US$5.5bn; and the electricity generation plant for which private investment will be sought.
“We need to unbundle Diamer-Basha dam project. The dam and electricity
generation combined will cost US$12bn but if only the dam is made, it will
cost US$5.5bn only. The electricity generation part will be carried out
through private investment,†he told the participants of the concluding
session of an energy conference organized by Institute of Policy Studies
and themed "Toward an Energy Secure Pakistan: Road to Recovery &
Sustainability - Agenda for Action".
He said that construction of Diamer-Basha dam is critical for the country
as it was the only dam site on which national consensus exists and it was
the only solution for the looming water crisis that could be worse than the
energy crisis in the years to come. He said it was criminal on part of the
previous regime to ignore this crucial project and waste five precious
years out of the nine years that were required to built this dam.
He said an integrated approach was needed to improve energy governance of
the country.
“In 1998, we had a plan to add 2800MW in the national grid by 2010 and we
were working towards it but the 1999 coup obstructed that planning. The
country was run on ad-hoc basis in the last 14 years and it is our biggest
challenge to fix the wrongs committed during that periodâ€, he stated.
The government cannot provide subsidies endlessly if the cost of generation
remains increasing hence the tariff needs to be raised. However, all
efforts must be made to reduce the power generation cost, he said further.
“Drastic reforms needed to revamp the system of governance. The first two
years of the present government will be tough however I am sure that these
testing times will bear fruit and the nation will reap the benefits of good
governance and economic reformsâ€, he claimed.
