CPEC’s Karot Hydropower project will be a tonic for Pakistan’s energy appetite, PM Shehbaz Sharif tells National Assembly
ISLAMABAD, May 27: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has told the National Assembly that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s Karot Hydropower project will be a tonic for Pakistan’s energy appetite.
Speaking in the National Assembly, PM Sharif said the project was near completion and will fulfill a major share of the country’s energy demand.
“To as to this, the Chinese firm executing Karot Hydropower project (Chinese state-owned company China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), has agreed to provide free electricity to the national grid till the finalization of the Commercial Operations Date (COD) which would save Rs 4 billion to the national kitty,” he added.
The Karot Hydropower Project is an under-construction concrete-core rockfill gravity large dam in Pakistan, with a planned installed capacity of 720 MW.
It is the first investment project of the Silk Road Fund, and is part of the much larger CPEC. The plant is expected to be completed in April 2023. Construction works are more than 90% complete.
The Karot Hydropower Project is planned on Jhelum River near Karot village, some 1.7 kilometers upstream of Karot Bridge and 74 km upstream of Mangla Dam. The Project site is accessible through the Islamabad-Kahuta-Kotli road, approximately 29 kilometers from Kahuta, and 65 kilometers from Islamabad.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Sharif had addressed the engineers and workers at the under-construction Karot Hydropower project and thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping.
He also thanked the Chinese and Pakistani workers, departments and ministries concerned for taking utmost interest to complete the project.
The PM indicated that being a hydropower project, the electricity price would reduce to even Pakistani Rs 3 per unit gradually, after the retirement of the debt.
The Prime Minister, who reviewed the progress on the project, said the project faced some delays due to COVID and other related issues.
