Diamir Bhasha Dam project cost goes up by Rs1000b

ISLAMABAD    -     The cost of 4500MW Diamir Bhasha Dam project has gone up by over Rs1000 billion from the initial estimated Rs894 bil­lion to over Rs 1,936 billion.

The cost of Diamir Bhasha power generation facilities has increased by Rs 203 bil­lion from the earlier Rs933 billion to Rs1,236 billion, offi­cial documents available with The Nation reveal.

The main reason for the in­crease is the devaluation of Pa­kistani rupee vis-à-vis US dol­lar, the documents said.

The earlier cost of the pow­er generation project of the dam was calculated on the basis of the exchange rate of Rs 160/USD, while the new cost has been cal­culated at Rs 234/USD exchange rate, said the documents.

Similarly, the total cost of the both components (Dam com­ponent and Power Generation facilities) has also increased by more than double during the last 14 years.

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In 2009, the total cost of the Diamir Basha Dam (Includ­ing dam and power generation components) was Rs 894 bil­lion. However, now the cost for both the portions has gone up to over Rs 1934 billion. 

The ECNEC last week had approved Diamir Basha Proj­ect-Power Generation facili­ties (4500MW) at a total cost of Rs1,236.10 billion including FEC of Rs598.19 billion.

In June 2009, the capi­tal cost estimate of the en­tire project was amounted to Rs894.26 billion, which com­prised the dam part as well as power generation facilities. 

However, it was decided by the then Ministry of Water and Power (MoW&P) to im­plement the project by split­ting the construction in two phases i.e. Dam Part and Pow­er Generation Facilities.

Accordingly, PC-I for Dam Part was separately prepared which is now in the implemen­tation phase and major con­struction works are underway. The cost of the dam portion has already topped Rs700 billion.

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In June 2022, the cost of sec­ond component of Power Gen­eration Facilities of Bhasha was Rs933.584 billion including the FEC of Rs409 billion. The cost of the project was updated on the average floating exchange rate of January, 2023 i.e. @ 1USD = Rs. 234.13 and the up­dated cost comes as Rs1,236.10 billion. The scope of work is di­vided into four contract pack­ages in Power Generation Fa­cilities, which includes MW-2, HM-2, EM-1 and EM-2.