ISLAMABAD: Pakistan expects China tofund a long-delayed Indus river mega dam project inGilgit-Baltistan with work beginningnext year, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said in an interview.
Pakistan has been keen for years to build a cascade of megadams along the Indus flowing down from the Himalayas, but has
struggled to raise money from international institutions amidopposition from its nuclear-armed neighbour India.
Those ambitions have been revived by China´s Belt and Roadinfrastructure plans for Pakistan, a key cog in Beijing´screation of a modern-day Silk Road network of trade routesconnecting Asia with Europe and Africa.
The $12-$14 billion Diamer-Bhasha dam should generate 4,500megawatts (MW) of electricity, and a vast new reservoir would
regulate the flow of water to farmland that is vulnerable toincreasingly erratic weather patterns.
Iqbal, the Islamabad lead on the China-Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC), said a Chinese company from a Beijing-pickedshortlist and a local partner would build the dam over a 10-yearperiod, and work should begin in the "next financial year",which begins in July.
"This water reservoir is most critical for food security inPakistan, so is a very high priority project for Pakistan,"Iqbal told Reuters late on Monday at his ministerial home inIslamabad.
China and Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding inDecember for Beijing to help fund and develop Pakistan´s Indus
Basin dams, though no timelines have been released.
Pakistanestimates there is 40,000 MW of hydro potential.The Diamer-Bhasha dam and reservoir would displace more than4,200 families in nearby areas and submerge a large section ofthe Karakoram Highway to China, Pakistan´s Water and Power
Development Authority estimates.
Iqbal said Pakistani and Chinese engineers are alsosurveying other projects, including the 7,100 MW Bunji hydropower project that will be the first in the cascade thatstretches down to the Tarbela Dam near Islamabad.
India this year fast-tracked $15 billion worth of damprojects on its side of Kashmir, despite fears from Islamabadthat the power stations will disrupt vital Indus water flowsinto Pakistan.
Iqbal, a close ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,said India needs to "stop its myopic thinkingtowards CPEC" and accept the Chinese-funded project is goingahead.
Better still would be for India to become part ofBeijing´s Belt and Road plans, he said.
"$20 BILLION PLUS"
Future CPEC plans are increasingly focused on how Beijingcan help build up Pakistan´s ailing industries, creating special
economic zones and opening up sectors from mining to agricultureto Chinese firms.
But Iqbal said infrastructure construction won´t stop, withcontracts set to be signed for roads and for mass rail transport
systems in Quetta, Peshawar and Karachi.
He said about $10 billion in new deals should be signed inthe next year on top of Chinese pledges topping $50 billion, and
that was likely to double by 2020."I would say conservatively $20 billion plus (in newinvestment by 2020)," Iqbal said, adding this would also includeprivate investment.