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Diamer-Bhasha Dam cost could escalate by Rs170b due to rupee devaluation

  • August 17, 2021

ISLAMABAD   –  The Standing Committee on Planning was Monday informed that the cost of Diamer-Bhasha Dam could escalate by Rs 170 billion to Rs 650b from the current Rs 480b mainly due to depreciation of value of Pakistani rupee against the US dollar.

At the time of approval of the PC-I of Diamer-Basha Dam project, the value of rupee was Rs 105 per one US dollar, however the rupee has depreciated and now it is over Rs160 per dollar, therefore the cost of the project can go to RS 650bn, official of the Planning Commission said while briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning here.

The 18th meeting of the NA Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, which was held under the chairmanship of Junaid Akbar, MNA, has unanimously confirmed minutes of its previous meeting held on 12th April, 2021. 

The Ministry gave a compliance report regarding the recommendations of the previous meeting. However, the Committee raised its concerns over the issues raised regarding Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Kartarpur Corridor Projects. Therefore, it was recommended that the Ministry may reconcile and provide a detailed response in that regard in the next Committee meeting.

Ahsan Iqbal said that Kartarpur Corridor Project was approved by the Planning Commission without the PC-I. Throughout the Planning Commission’s history it had never happened that a project was approved without PC-I, Ahsan Iqbal added. He said by awarding Kartarpur Corridor Project through open bidding the government could have saved Rs 4 to 5 billion. Official of the Planning Ministry informed that that the project was approved by the federal cabinet. 

On the Bhasha Dam cost escalation, Ahsan Iqbal said that with the hike of exchange rate of dollar, the cost of the dam has increased and expressed the apprehension that it can become another white elephant. “We have the example of Neelum Jhelum project,” he added. 

The committee was further informed that Chairman CPEC was working on honorary basis and no salary was paid or perks were given to him.

The representatives of the Ministry of Planning, Development Special Initiatives gave a detailed briefing on its mechanism to discourage the practice of spending development funds for the non-development expenses on recurring basis by the various ministries. It was informed that the process of approval of such projects had been streamlined to ensure their transparency at initial phase, however, the process for proper monitoring and evaluation of the mature projects was also being improved. The Committee recommended that Key Performance Indicators for such development projects may also formulated to assess their relevance and utility. The General Statistics (Reorganization) (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was also disposed-off by the Committee due to repeated non-attendance by the Mover. 

On the issue of release of funds for the affectees of Suki Kanari Hydro Power Dam Project at River Kunhar, District Mansehra, the Committee appointed a sub-committee with Saleh Muhammad Swati, MNA as convener and Muhammad Sajjad, MNA, Syed Agha Rafiullah, MNA as members.

The meeting was attended by Sher Akbar Khan, Saleh Muhammad, Shaukat Ali, Syed Faiz Ul Hassan,Nawab Sher, Dr. Seemi Bukhari, Imran Khattak, Muhammad Sajjad, Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary, Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhary, Sardar Muhammad Irfan Dogar,Naveed Dero, Syed Agha Rafiullah and the Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiative.

Article source: https://nation.com.pk/17-Aug-2021/diamer-bhasha-dam-cost-could-escalate-by-rs170b-due-to-rupee-devaluation

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