Rs1tr China-funded project okayed

 ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan pushes through the approval of a Rs1 trillion China-funded Chashma nuclear power project on Thursday, aimed at generating 1,200 megawatts of electricity, without first securing necessary initial tariffs and other approvals.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), known as “Chashma Nuclear Power Project Unit-5 (C-5),” at a cost of Rs1.05 trillion, according to the Ministry of Finance.

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The project will be built with Rs187 billion of foreign exchange component and a Chinese supplier credit of Rs820.7 billion or $2.9 billion. The project will be constructed outside the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) by securing a $2.9 billion Chinese loan.

However, the government did not complete all the modal formalities before giving approval to the Rs1.05 trillion scheme.

Just a day ago, the project’s Central Development Working Party (CDWP) meeting was held, in which the forum directed to get the mega scheme approved as a strategic project from the federal cabinet. The CDWP also instructed to secure inclusion of the project in the Indicative Generation Capacity Plan (IGCEP), which was prepared with input from the World Bank.

At the time of the CDWP endorsement, there was no feasibility study and no engineering procurement and construction level tariff for the project, as shown in the documents.

The summary tabled by the Secretary Planning before the ECNEC stated that the PAEC will get the project declared as strategic by a competent forum and its inclusion in the IGCEP, in line with the directions stipulated in the National Electricity Policy of 2021.

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