The government on Tuesday issued Letter of Interest (LoI) for 590MW Mahl Hydropower Project in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) to a consortium, led by CWE Investment Corporation of China, a company owned by China Three Gorges Dam. The company has been blacklisted by the World Bank
A spokesman for the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) said since the project was not offered under public procurement and involved private investment in a power project financed by the private sector, the PPIB or the government of Pakistan did not have any risk involved in it.
Secondly, the project did not involve any World Bank financing that could have a bearing on the government.
He said the entire responsibility about financing and execution of the project related to the private sector which is bound by the performance guarantee to deliver on various milestones. On failure, the government had the right to confiscate the performance guarantee.
