ISLAMABAD: Water and Power Development Authority prepared a scheme for rehabilitation and upgradation of Dargai hydropower project at an estimated cost of Rs.3.88 billion.

Official sources told APP here that PC-1 of the project had already been submitted to the Planning Commission for approval by Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC).

The project is expected to commence in 2018 and it would be completed by 2022.

The French Donor Agency (AFD) has provided finance for the project. After rehabilitation, the capacity would enhance from 20MW to 22MW, they said.

The project was commissioned in 1952 and it has generated over 5.4 billion units of cheap energy so far.

The machinery being 65 years old has outlived its useful life and it requires replacement to render reliable service for another life cycle.