ISLAMABAD: The government has issued Letter of Interest (LoI) to CWE Investment Corporation, a company owned by China Three Gorges Dam, for 590MW Mahl Hydropower Project in Azad Jammu and Kd ashmir (AJ&K) but the company is blacklisted by the World Bank for 3 years.
The Mahl project is a run-of-river hydropower project which is being set up at the dual boundary of Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, with an estimated cost of $1,200 million.
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Sheng Zhendong signed the LOI document on behalf of sponsoring consortium CWE Investment Corporation China, while on behalf of the federal government Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) Managing Director Shah Jahan Mirza signed the document.
Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Mohammad Asif, PPIB board members, senior government officials and representative of sponsoring consortium were also present on the occasion.
The PPIB board also approved re-advertisement of 350MW Athmuqam Hydropower Project in AJ&K which had attracted only one investor a couple of months ago.
Sources said that the board of directors of the PPIB was also informed about CWE’s blacklisting by the World Bank on corruption charges, but the board was satisfied with the explanation given by the PPIB’s law department over no legal difficulty in the deal.
The World Bank had blacklisted the company in September this year from any WB-funded project under its fraud and corruption policy for three years ie Sept 24, 2014 to 2017.
The minister said that the primary focus of the government was on local resources for power generation and emphasis was on coal in the southern region and hydro projects in the northern region of the country.
The board also called upon the agencies concerned to expedite two projects at Thar coal, ie 1200MW by China Power International Holding and 660MW by Engro Powergen Ltd and LoIs for both the projects would be issued soon.
The minister also dispelled the allegations by Imran Khan that the hydro projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were not being considered by the federal government. He said that during the visit of prime minister to China, Suki Kinari hydro project of 870MW was also signed, to be developed in District Mansehra.
