ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday said $14 billion Bhasha Dam project is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The government has achieved consensus among the provinces on CPEC and nine economic zones will be established in various cities, including Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The 20th in-camera meeting of Parliamentary Committee on CPEC took place under the chairmanship of Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed.
Ahsan Iqbal briefed the meeting on the 6th meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) held in Beijing on December 28-29, 2016, which was attended by chief ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Later, talking to reporters, he said Pakistan and China agreed to complete the Gwadar-related projects as soon as possible. While spending money on rehabilitation of Silk Route, the government will also construct Chitral to Dir road on a priority basis, he said.
The minister said further the work on Bhasha Dam would be completed in 12 to 14 years. The project is very important for the food security and the government would allocate money for this project in the next PSDP, he said.
GB CM Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman said the government has bought 48,000 acres of land for Bhasha Dam. The dam would be constructed in two phases, he said, adding, “We will construct the dam with our own resources and the government will request China to construct power house.”
According to National Assembly communiqué about the in-camera meeting, Iqbal said 11,000MW of electricity would be added to the national grid by 2018, 5000MW under CPEC and 5000MW under non-CPEC projects.
The minister told the committee that Thar coal could be used for electricity for the next 400 years and there were two transmission lines being installed between Matiari-Lahore and Matiari-Faisalabad which would send away electricity from south and will be connected to the national grid.
He said that all four provincial capitals would have rail-based mass transit system as part of CPEC.
In his remarks, Mushahid Hussain welcomed the breakthrough at the JCC meeting regarding CPEC meeting and said CPEC was already on the road to consolidation and in 2017, it would be the year of takeoff for CPEC as all key projects, in consultation with provinces, were being pursued according to the specific timeframe and impediments have been removed.
On recommendations by members, it was decided that there would be a comprehensive briefing by the Water and Power Ministry on the energy plan until 2020 as well as the construction of transmission lines by NTDC for the evacuation of electricity that are likely to be produced particularly in KP. The Planning Ministry would also give a briefing on the long-term plans of CPEC.
