Dasu dam to generate low-cost clean energy Says PM Imran

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 04 Jan 2023

DASU: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that the Dasu dam would generate low-cost clean energy that would help reduce inflation and promote industrialization in the country.

The premier reviewed ongoing work on the Dasu hydropower project, under construction on the Indus River in the Upper Kohistan district.

Speaking on the occasion, PM Imran said cheap and clean electricity generation from this project would benefit the country. "We should have done this long ago," he said. "Expensive electricity causes inflation."

"Phase one of Dasu dam will be completed by April 2025 and its cost would be Rs511 billion. It will add 2,160 megawatts of electricity to the national grid," the premier said.

"This capacity will increase to 4,320 megawatts with the completion of its second phase by 2029. It will provide 12 billion units of affordable and environmentally friendly electricity to the national grid every year."

Imran further added that industrialization would greatly contribute to the progress of the country through wealth creation and also appreciated the workers and consultants working on this complex project.

In 2019, the federal government 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.