Pakistan seeks $300m ADB loan for water project

Pakistan has requested the Asian Development Bank for $300 million loan for the Kurram Tangi Integrated Water Resources Development project which aims to improve energy, water and food security in the country. The ADB is expected to approve the loan in 2024, according to the project document released by the bank. The proposed project will directly contribute to the two strategic pillars of Pakistan’s National Poverty Reduction Strategy: “Increasing productivity and value addition in agriculture” and “Integrated Energy Development Programme”. The project aims to construct a 95- metre-high dam with a water storage capacity of 1,480 million cubic metres (m3) on the Kurram river; construct three small hydroelectric powerhouses to generate 65MW of hydropower; irrigate 27,400 hectares of new command area; and improve irrigation water supply to the existing 155,444 hectares of command area. The proposed interventions of the project will, therefore, significantly contribute to economic growth while improving agricultural productivity, energy and food security in the country.