Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) announced the commencement of the survey for the CASA-1000 power transmission route in Kunduz and Baghlan provinces.

Hekmatullah Maiwandi, the spokesperson for DABS, stated that the CEO of the company has traveled to Baghlan and Kunduz to assess and facilitate the execution of this project and has also held discussions with local provincial officials.

The CASA-1000 project aims to transmit approximately 1,000 megawatts of electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan through Afghanistan. The project’s work in the involved countries is reportedly almost complete; however, in Afghanistan, it was halted due to political changes in August 2021.

“They have started the preliminary survey, after which a meeting will be held with Breshna Sherkat, and then a date will be set to start the work,” Hekmatullah Maiwandi said.

The CASA-1000 project is valued at $1.2 billion, with the Afghanistan section costing $260 million. So far, $100 million of it has not been paid by the World Bank.

Amanullah Ghalib, former head of Breshna company, considers the implementation of this project politically and regionally beneficial for Afghanistan and says that Afghanistan could earn around 45 to 50 million dollars annually as transit fees.

Amanullah Ghalib added, “Afghanistan can politically prove that we are no longer isolated and can be a partner, and start other projects like TAP and the Internet.”

Some economic experts believe that the implementation of this project will have a positive impact on job creation and improving Afghanistan’s economic trust in the region.

Taj Mohammad Talash, an economic expert, said: “This project can reduce unemployment, improve the economic trust of regional countries, create industrial zones, and move us towards self-sufficiency in the energy sector.”

Previously, the Central Bank of Afghanistan had announced that infrastructure projects worth $40 million would be implemented along the CASA-1000 line in Afghanistan.