Pakistan and China on Wednesday signed an agreement for the construction of a 720 mega watt hydel power project at Korrat bordering Punjab and Azad Kashmir at a cost of 1.2 billion dollars. Talking to media after the signing ceremony, Minister for Water and Power, Syed Naveed Qamar, said that this would be the biggest power project to be undertaken by a private company in Pakistan.
He said that the project would be completed within four years. Naeem Barri has signed agreement on behalf of Pakistani company, Allied Technologies Limited (ATL), and Cao Guangjing on behalf of Three Gorges Corporation. The signing ceremony was also witnessed by the Minister for Water and Power. Naveed Qamar said that the Chinese company would also invest in wind energy and Thar Coal projects. He said that the project signed today would be completed in time and 720 MW would be injected into the national grid.
He said that Chinese company, Three Georges, has been familiar with Pakistan as it has been involved in Mangla dam raising project. He expressed the hope that the project would open vistas of investment for hydel projects. The representative of Chinese company said that they have been working for the last three years in Pakistan and there is a lot of potential for investment in the power sector. An official said that an agreement on power tariff has also been reached ie, 7.5 cent per KW and it would soon be approved by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority.