Islamabad: The French government recently provided Pakistan with a soft loan worth PKR 9.36 billion for the restoration of the Chitral and Dargai hydropower plants, according to a news source. The French Embassy said that the funding would aid with the modernisation of the two hydropower plants, while significantly increasing their power generation capacity.
The Credit Facility Agreement for the loan and the Grant Agreement were signed by Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Secretary Noor Ahmed, Country Director of the French Agency for Development (AFD) Jacky Amprou, and French Ambassador to Pakistan Marc Baréty.
The provision of funds is aimed at meeting the energy requirements of the Chitral and Malakand regions by facilitating generation, distribution, and transmission of energy. Moreover, the project is expected to provide enormous leverage for the industrial, economic, and agricultural development of the region.
According to the embassy, France, through AFD, is lending extensive financial support to facilitate the development of energy and urban sectors of Pakistan.
