Work on Kurram Tangi Dam will commence from July this year and estimated cost of the project is Rs59 billion, which is estimated to generate 83.4MW electricity and will irrigate 350,000 acres command area in the Northern Waziristan. This information was provided to Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power chaired by Senator Lashkari Raisani. The meeting was informed the project would take four yeas to complete.
Chairman WAPDA, Shakeel Durrani said that the donors were ready to finance the project. He said the dam was estimated to earn Rs15 billion per annum and the total cost would be recovered in four years. The government had already allocated Rs100 million for the project for the current fiscal year’s public sector development programme.
Managing Director Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) N A Zuberi told the committee that during the tenure of the present government 2500 MW were added in the system and an investment of $4.5 billion was made in the sector. He said PPIB was working on 37 projects having 11,000 MW capacity. The meeting deferred approval of PPIB Bill 2011 after it was mentioned that the draft mentions Gilgit Baltistan as a province. The authorities were asked to rectify the mistake and submit it for approval on January 13 meeting.
Earlier MD PPIB told the committee that the board was operating for the last 18 years on a notification of the Prime Minister Secretariat and investors were concerned of its legal status. He said passage of the bill would help in that regard. He said the bill was moved many times in the past but before its passage the assemblies were dissolved.