Islamabad: The federal government is expected to award the Diamer Basha
Dam & Allied Structures’ contract within a few weeks’ time, a news source
reported.
As per the publication, Minister for Planning Asad Umar chaired a meeting to review the progress of the Diamer Basha Dam. The meeting was informed that the project had incurred expenses worth PKR 99.238 billion till February, including PKR 93.9 billion for acquiring land for the development of the project.
The meeting was also informed that a supplementary PKR 21 billion grant was needed to complete the land acquisition and some relevant construction work. It was also informed that the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) planned to assign the contract for the Diamer Basha Dam & Allied Structures within the coming few weeks. WAPDA plans to initiate the construction work for the dam within the current financial year.
Located on the Indus River near Chilas in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the Diamer Basha Dam Project is estimated to cost a total of USD 14 billion funds. The dam is expected to produce 4500 megawatts (MW) of power, and will have a gross water capacity of 8.1 million acre-feet (MAF).
