According to Daily Times (Pakistan), a consortium of three financial institutions will provide Pakistan $1 billion to import electricity from Central Asian Republics (CARs), and a power import agreement on the matter is being signed here today (Monday), sources said on Sunday.

A senior official in the Water and Power Ministry of Pakistan told Daily Times that the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB) are providing financial assistance to Pakistan to import 1,000 megawatts (MW) from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The source said that an agreement for electricity import is being signed today at the conclusion of two days of meetings in Islamabad of the Inter-Governmental Council, which includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

A senior official in the ministry said the tariff on imported electricity would stand at 6 cents to 8 cents per kWh, as compared to the Independent Power Producers’ (IPPs) tariff of 12 cents to 14 cents/kWh.

Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf told reporters at the end of talks that the IGC would deal with project implementation, contract administration and system operations. He said that an assessment of the feasibility of the power import project had been completed and that the second phase of feasibility evaluation would provide broad design specifications for the transmission line and sustainability of the project.

Ashraf ruled out security concerns about Afghanistan. Afghanistan would also benefit from the project, and the Afghan government will take its responsibility seriously, he added. The minister said that Tajikistan had surplus electricity and that Pakistan’s import from the former Soviet state was an option to enhance Pakistan’s national power grid.