Govt to arrange $576m EXIM Bank funding for Neelum-Jhelum Project

ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday decided to arrange $576 million funding from the Chinese EXIM Bank and resolve the lingering problem with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for the completion of Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project within the stipulated time-frame.
“Wapda will arrange Rs100 billion through domestic Sukuk Bond and arrangements in this regard are at the final stages,” a senior participant of the meeting, held under chairmanship of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, told The News on Monday evening.
Chairman Wapda Zafar Mahmood confirmed to The News on Monday that the government was approaching the EXIM Bank for getting $576 million to complete the project within the desired time-frame.
However, the sources said the IDB had stopped its committed loan owing to the lingering controversy with the project contractor for the last several months.Now a high-powered delegation of IDB is scheduled to visit Islamabad on July 11 in order to explore ways and means to resolve its lingering controversy with the contractor of the Neelum-Jhelum project.
The cost escalation of project remained problematic and now efforts are underway to complete it without any further delay and cost overruns.According to a statement issued by the Finance Ministry, Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting at the Finance Division to review the progress on different hydropower projects, particularly the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project.
The meeting was attended by minister for water and power and a presentation was made by the chairman Wapda.Zafar Mehmood gave a presentation in detail on the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project and the progress made on the project so far.
Dar said the completion of valuable hydropower projects was the first priority of government, as they were vital for the development of the country.
“The cost of Neelum-Jhelum Hydro Project has increased due to delays in its execution because of changes in the original design after the 2005 earthquake and the resultant escalation in the scope of work but it is our firm commitment that now the project will be taken up on priority basis and all international donors and lenders will be re-engaged in the process of expediting the release of funds for this project and for achieving this objective we will try to satisfy them on all their concerns,” he said.
General (retd) Mohammad Zubair, the head of technical team on the Neelum-Jhelum Project, said according to the most recent report from his team, progress on the work had reached 72 percent in the tenure of the present government and Inshallah it will be completed with utmost efficiency.
He said 70 percent of project issues had been resolved and it was making speedy progress as compared to the past.Dar directed the team involved in the completion of the project to work in close coordination and sum up their numbers.
The minister also directed the participants of the meeting to form a team to re-engage the IDB and Exim Bank for speeding up funding for the project.Federal Minister for Water and Power Khawaja M. Asif said the government will also consider constituting a supervisory committee to ensure efficient execution of the project.