ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Water Resources informed the National Assembly that the cost of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project under its PC-I (Dam Part) had increased from Rs479 billion to Rs1,121 billion, registering an escalation of Rs642 billion.
In a written reply to a question by Dr Sharmila Faruqui, the Ministry of Water Resources stated that the increase had been attributed to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. The ministry said a revised PC-I for the Diamer-Bhasha Dam had been submitted to the Ministry of Water Resources for approval.
The original PC-I for the Dam Part, amounting to Rs479.686 billion, was prepared at an exchange rate of US$1 to Rs105.30 and was based on the 2016 price index. It was subsequently approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in November 2018. The first revised PC-I (Dam Part), amounting to Rs1,121.93 billion, has been submitted to the Ministry of Water Resources for approval. The increase in the project cost has been attributed to fluctuations in the exchange rate, which moved from Rs105.30 per US dollar under the PC-I approved in 2018 to Rs280; the inclusion of interest during construction arising from commercial loans; additional external security-related measures for the project; and increases in the prices of major construction materials. The ministry stated that the rise in project costs had resulted from these factors, which were beyond the control of the project authorities. To illustrate the impact, the documents presented a table showing fluctuations in exchange rates and the prices of major construction materials between 2016 and 2026.
The cost of the Dasu Hydropower Project (Stage-I) has also surged from Rs486 billion to Rs1,740 billion, marking an increase of approximately 260 per cent.
The government has also acknowledged the impact of rupee depreciation on the prices of construction materials and petroleum products, according to documents submitted to the National Assembly. The price of a 50-kilogramme bag of cement has increased from Rs530 to Rs1,610, registering a rise of around 204 per cent. Similarly, steel and iron bar prices have surged by 268 per cent, with the price per metric tonne climbing from Rs72,000 to Rs265,000. The documents further show that the price of high-speed diesel has increased by Rs472 per litre, reaching Rs414 per litre.
In a reply to another question, Parliamentary Secretary for Water Resources Ms Rana Ansar told the House that the government was sponsoring the construction of 18 dams, including Diamer-Bhasha, to augment the country’s water storage capacity. She highlighted that Diamer-Bhasha Dam alone would store 6.4 million acre-feet of water, significantly enhancing irrigation supplies to the existing 45 million acres of land currently irrigated by the Indus Basin Irrigation System. She said that 14 more reservoirs were at the planning and design stage.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for National Health Services Syed Mustafa Kamal told the National Assembly that the government was working towards making Pakistan self-reliant in indigenous vaccine production, as the country would have to bear the entire cost of vaccine procurement by 2030, with annual expenditure estimated at around $1.2 billion.
He also told the National Assembly that a barcode-based system to prevent the sale of counterfeit medicines and enable consumers to verify whether medicines were genuine, as well as check their prices and expiry dates, would be implemented across the country by the end of November.
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