Dasu Dam to generate low-cost clean energy: PM

| Imran Khan says costly electricity causes inflation | Industrialisation will greatly contribute to country’s progress

ISLAMABAD   -  Prime Minister Imran Khan said Friday that Dasu Dam will generate low-cost clean energy that will help reduce inflation and promote industrialisation in the country.

He was talking to foreign engineers and workers at the site after reviewing construction work of the project on Friday. The Prime Minister said industrialisation will greatly contribute to progress of the country through wealth creation. He said hydropower generation should have been given priority to produce cheap electricity. He said costly electricity causes inflation.

Imran Khan said he would appreciate the workers and consultants working on this complex project.

The phase one of Dasu Dam will be completed by 2025, which will add 2160 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.  This capacity will increase to 4320 megawatts with the completion of its second phase by 2029.

The prime minister expressed satisfaction over the pace of ongoing work and said he would appreciate the workers and consultants working on this complex project. Under Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of power sector reform and better use of the country’s water resources, the speed of the work at the Dasu Dam has been enhanced.

The purchase of land for the dam has been finalised and the construction of dam is continuing in compliance with the SOPs despite the coronavirus situation. In 2019, the federal government had revised upward the land acquisition cost of the under-construction Dasu hydroelectric power project by another 40% to address concerns of the local population, which has increased its total cost to Rs510 billion.

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) increased the land component cost of the project from the original Rs12 billion to Rs39.6 billion. It was the second revision in the land cost, as earlier the last government had also jacked up the total cost to Rs19.1 billion from the original Rs12 billion.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that government is committed to preserve and restore all historical sites in the country. In a tweet, he said Lahore Fort has been restored and preserved for future generations of Pakistan.