$1.5bn hydropower project will create 3,000 jobs — CPEC authority chairman 

ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority said on Monday the construction of a new $1.5 billion hydropower project would create 3,000 jobs, reduce imported fuel costs, and broaden Pakistan’s clean energy portfolio. 
China’s Gezhouba Group and Pakistan on Monday signed an agreement for the 700.7 megawatt Azad Pattan Hydropower Project.
The plant, slated for completion in 2026, falls under the CPEC umbrella, a flagship of China’s Belt and Road Initiative that will connect the Chinese region of Kashgar with Pakistan’s Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea through a vast network of highways and rail lines. So far, the project has attracted around $60 billion in investments from China.
In a post on Twitter, CPEC Authority Chairman General (retired) Asim Saleem Bajwa said the hydropower project would shift Pakistan’s focus to “cheaper and greener” power. 
Listing the benefits of the project he said: “No fuel import so no foreign exchange wasted. 3000 jobs, $1.5 Bn investment-no loan,” adding that it would generate an annual income of Rs1.38 billion from water use for the Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir regions. 
After the agreement for the project was signed, Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was present at the inauguration event, said increasing hydropower generation was part of his government’s ‘Clean and Green Pakistan’ policy. 
“It will also diminish the impacts of global warming,” Khan said.