Work on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor’s (CPEC) first hydropower project is now 88 percent complete, its top official said. CPEC Authority Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa said 88 percent of work on the 720-megawatt Karot Hydropower Project has been completed.

Located on the Jhelum River, the project is expected to be completed by April 2022, Bajwa wrote on his official Twitter handle.

He said the investment in the project amounted to $1,780 million whereas 5,000 local people were directly employed in the construction.

The project was earlier expected to be completed in 2021 and will generate 3.2 billion units of cheap, clean electricity for Pakistan.

The China Three Gorges South Asia Investment Ltd (CSAIL) is the lead sponsor in the three hydropower projects in Pakistan - 1,124 MW Kohala Hydropower Project, 720 MW Karot Hydropower Project and 640 MW Mahl Hydropower Project.

Last month, China's official state-run press agency Xinhua reported that Pakistan's Suki Kinari (SK) Hydropower Project in the northwestern part of the country has achieved the second-stage river closure.

(SAM)