Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated on Monday the refurbishment project of Units 5 and 6 of Mangla Dam aimed at enhancing its electricity generation capacity.
The initiative was described as a magnificent example of Pakistan and US cooperation by the Prime Minister during his remarks.
According to him, this upgrade project will cost a total of 483 million dollars, of which 150 million dollars will come from a grant from the US.
He emphasized the need for Pakistan and the United States to continue to improve their bilateral trade and investment relations.
The Prime Minister stated Pakistan cannot afford the pricey energy, which now costs 27 billion rupees annually, alluding to the economic benefits of the Mangla Dam.
He underlined the need for exploiting indigenous resources including hydel, solar, air and coal to produce cheap electricity.
The Prime Minister stated Pakistan cannot afford the pricey energy, which now costs 27 billion rupees annually, alluding to the economic benefits of the Mangla Dam.
The Prime Minister regretted that the country could not fully exploit the hydel power potential of sixty thousand megawatts. He said apart from the extension of Mangla and Tarbela Dams, Diamer Basha, Dasu and some other projects have been launched. He said that had these hydel projects been earlier completed, the country would not have faced much destruction due to recent floods as well as its reliance on imported fuel would have been negligible.
The country must be united, the prime minister emphasized, in order to overcome any challenges.
In his remarks on the occasion, the US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome said Mangla Dam is a great symbol of Pakistan-US cooperation.
He claimed that in addition to other hydroelectric initiatives, his nation is helping Pakistan restore the Tarbela power plants.
According to the ambassador, Mangla Dam’s restoration efforts would increase electrical generation to fulfill the demands of an additional two million people. According to him, it will also guarantee that Mangla Power Stations stay operational for the foreseeable future.
WAPDA Chairman Sajjad Ghani remarked that the government is shown a strong interest in the production of clean, green, and affordable energy. According to him, the WAPDA is adopting a two-pronged strategy under which the new projects are also being built while the existing hydroelectric plants are being renovated.
