LAHORE: A World Bank’s implementation mission arrived here on Friday to finalise modalities of loan and the action plan for starting civil works on the 4,320MW Dasu Hydropower Project (DHP).

In a month-long visit to Pakistan, the 10-member mission will hold a series of meetings with senior officials of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and the Ministry of Water and Power, Dawn has learnt.

Officials term arrival of the mission a significant development to speed up homework after approval by the bank’s executive board of directors of about $4.3 billion soft loan under a special package of the International Development Association (IDA).

Read more: World Bank to approve $577m for Dasu power project

“According to the policy, the WB will pay about $700 million of the total loan to Wapda in order to execute various tasks related to the project. It will directly utilise rest of $3.3 billion for making timely payments to local and international contractors in order to get the project accomplished within a timeframe of nine years,” said a Wapda official.

Modalities of loan and action plan to be discussed with Pakistani officials

He said that $4.3bn loan was considered to be the cheapest that involves a low mark-up on easy terms and conditions relating to its utilisation and repayment.

He said the WB mission would hold meetings with senior Wapda officials, including chairman, members for water and power and finance and the DHP management.

After initial round of three-day (Aug4-6) talks, the delegation members would start a six-day site visit of the DHP, the official said.

“After the site visit, the WB team will return to Lahore and resume interactive sessions with the Wapda administration. These sessions will continue till Aug 16. And on Aug 17, the mission members will depart for Islamabad,” he added. On Aug 18 a loan agreement signing ceremony would be held probably at the PM secretariat or the Ministry of Water and Power. The head of WB delegation and officials of the respective ministry would sign the agreement.

He said after signing of the agreement, the mission would hold a round of meetings with officials of the ministry and Wapda from Aug 19 to 21.

The participants of meetings would discuss and finalise all issues related to the release of loan instalments, utilisation of funds, role and responsibilities, payment to Wapda and contractors, construction plan, line of action, constraints, schedule for the completion of various project components.

The official said Wapda tentatively planned to launch civil work on the DHP, a run-of-the-river project located 7km upstream of Dasu village in District Kohistan on Indus River, 74km

downstream of Diamer Bhasha Dam and 350km from Islamabad, in March next year.

“In case we couldn’t start civil work in March, we will surely start it by July 2015,” the official said.

Published in Dawn, Aug 2nd , 2014