ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP), presided over by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan, deferred approval of power evacuation from the Dasu hydropower project plan of Rs132 billion after a cost overrun of almost 46 percent on Wednesday, a national daily reported.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) had approved ‘Dasu Hydropower Project (stage 1) revision of cost for land acquisition and built up of property’ after imposition of section 4 of Land Acquisition Act of 1894, subject to opinion of the law ministry in July 2019.
Officials said the evacuation of power from the 2,160MW Dasu hydropower project (stage-1) could not get through the CDWP as the cost had ballooned to Rs132.3 billion from a previous estimate of Rs91 billion, approved in July last year. The main reason for the cost increase was reported as 49 percent depreciation in the value of PKR. The foreign exchange component had shot up from Rs79.58 billion, as approved in July last year, to Rs112. billion.
A $200 million World Bank-funded “Pakistan Goes Global” project was also deferred and the committee asked the authorities to address technical objections. However, CDWP cleared four other development schemes having a total estimated cost of about Rs126 billion and recommended two other World Bank-funded projects worth Rs116.4 billion to the ECNEC for formal approval.
CDWP is empowered to approve projects costing less than Rs10 billion, whereas projects involving higher estimated costs are approved by ECNEC after the CDWP clears them on technical grounds. As such, the CDWP-approved project of Rs3.63 billion “Disaster Climate Resilience Improvement Project AJK”, an energy-related project for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at a cost of Rs5.77 billion, construction of a 157MW Madian hydropower project in Swat district at an estimated cost of Rs79.798 billion, and the 88MW Gabral Kalam hydropower project in KP worth Rs36.555 billion.
