The first phase of the 30.4MW Jagrian hydro project in Pakistan was set for completion in December 1999 as IWP&DC went to press. The project cost US$80M, according to AJK Hydro Electric Board (HEB) managing director, Fazil Mahmood Qureshi.
A French and Swedish consortium has built the project and borrowed US$40M from France, with the rest of the funds being provided by the Annual Development Pro-gramme of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir government in northern India. AKJ HEB was set to transfer the project from the Swedish construction company Skanska on 18 December 1999 to district capital Muzaf-farabad. Qureshi said that with the start of power supplies from the 30.4MW project there will be sufficient power and no load-shedding will be necessary in the capital district. Any surplus power will be sold, increasing state revenue.
The annual generation of the first phase will be 34,000kWh. The second and third phases of the project will be 45MW and 90MW, respectively, and with their completion 20% of power requirements in Azad Jammu and Kashmir will be met.