Officials from Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) said Thursday that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has pledged to provide $70 million to fund Surkhan-Pul-e-Khumri power project.
The Surkhan-Pul-e-Khumri power transmission project between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan was agreed upon by representatives of the two countries on the sidelines of the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) in Turkmenistan last week.
The project is expected to be completed in three years.
DABS spokesman Wahidullah Tawhidi said the technical survey on the project has been completed by the officials from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
“The power transmission line is from Surkhan to Pul-e-Khumri. The Asian Development Bank has pledged $70 million for the project. At lest 12 days ago, a technical team from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan conducted a survey on feasibility study and design of the project,” Tawhidi told TOLOnews.
According to DABS, this power line will transmit up to 1,000 megawatts of electricity from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan and both countries will start the construction phase soon.
The completion of the power project will bring light to people in ten provinces of the country, DABS said.
DABS previously said that Uzbekistan had committed that with the implementation of the project, Uzbekistan will provide cheap electricity to Afghanistan.
“I think it is a very good step for boosting investment in the country, considering the current situation (in Afghanistan). The involvement of Uzbekistan in Afghanistan’s economic development is a big victory for Afghan government despite that the (Kabul) administration has many failures,” Sayed Massoud, university lecturer and economic affairs analyst, told TOLOnews.
The Pul-e-Khumri-Surkhan power project, a project which will inject over 1,000 megawatts of electricity into the Afghan power grid.
The agreement for the project was signed during President Ashraf Ghani’s recent visit to Uzbekistan.