Diamer-Basha Dam to generate 18,100GWH annually

LAHORE: The installed capacity of Diamer-Basha Dam will be 4,500 megawatt (MW) to generate 18,100 gigawatt hour power annually, while the gross storage capacity of the project will be 8.1 million acre feet (MAF) with live storage capacity of 6.4MAF, according to an official information received on Thursday.

It revealed that the Diamer-Basha Dam project which is expected to be completed by April, 2029 is being constructed on the River Indus, 40 kilometers downstream of Chilas town.  The project is of paramount importance, focusing on water, food and energy security of the country.

It said that the Diamer-Basha Dam project is worth Rs1,406,122 million including PC-I of acquisition of land and resettlement of Rs175,436 million, PC-I of Dam Part Rs479,686 million while cost for PC-I of Power Generation Facilities, which is yet to be approved, is Rs751,000 million.

It said that similarly, the previous governments spent Rs86,685 million on the dam under acquisition of land and resettlement (AL&R) since 2009-10, while the present government has spent Rs30,273 million under AL&R and Rs51,555 million under the dam part. The total amount of Rs116,158 million has been spent under AL&R and Rs51,555 million under the dam.

It also revealed that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf -led government which is giving top priority to the mega power projects has earmarked Rs15,500 million for the dam part and Rs7,000 million for AL&R during the fiscal year 2020-21.