Islamabad plans on increasing its hydropower production by setting up a new project in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir by 2022, local daily The Express Tribune reported on Saturday. Pakistan’s proposed project will have a capacity of 700 megawatt and will be built with foreign funds, the report said. The project is estimated to cost $1.51 billion
(approximately Rs 95,760 crore).

“The project [Azad Pattan Hydropower Project] is an initiative of the government of Pakistan being developed in the private sector under the Policy for Power Generation 2002,” the daily quoted project documents from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority as saying.

The project is to be built on the Jhelum river in Sudhanoti district, and the proposal suggests an 18-year debt repayment period. Hydropower accounts for 28% of Pakistan’s energy resources, the daily said. “The 700.7 megawatt project adds much-needed capacity to the inventory of hydropower projects in the country and will generate around 3% of the country’s annual generation,” the document said.