ISLAMABAD – To expedite the construction of Diamer Bhasha Dam, the government on Thursday allowed the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) to raise Rs 20 billion from the market through Sukuk and Term Finance Certificates (TFC).
This decision was made at the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet that met under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.
According to official sources, the government would provide the necessary guarantees, while WAPDA would raise the amount from the market and later repay it through its own resources.
WAPDA employed the same mechanism to raise Rs 8 billion in 2006 and Rs 8 billion in 2007 through sukuks for the project and is currently servicing them. The meeting was informed that additional financing was required to kick-start the actual work on the project, as the government had made an allocation of Rs 15 billion for the land acquisition in the current financial year’s public sector development programme.
The cost of 4,500MW Diamer Bhasa Dam is estimated at $13 billion, and so far international financial institutions have not made any financing commitment for the mega project.
The sources said ECC did not discuss the most important summary by the Ministry of Industries that sought an immediate resumption of gas supply to the fertilizer sector in order to overcome the potential urea shortage in the current Rabi season.
