ADB not to fund PoK dam project

Islamabad, October 27

"We did not really make any commitment. This is a very big project,” ADB president Takehiko Nakao said at a joint news conference with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on the 

conclusion of the 15th ministerial meeting of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) programme.

Underlining that the project on the Indus river in Gilgit- Baltistan in PoK was very important for Pakistan's energy and irrigation requirements, Nakao called for the formation of more partnerships that could provide funding for the project, expected to generate a power output of 4,500 MW.

Islamabad has consistently failed to attract foreign lenders for the project. Repeated efforts to rope in the World Bank as a co-lender had failed two years ago when the government declined to seek a No-objection Certificate from India for the project.

Instead, Pakistan accepted funding offer from the World Bank to start the Dasu project, downstream Diamer-Bhasha. — PTI