World Bank announces $256.85 million electricity loan to Pakistan
Islamabad, Jun 18 (UNI) In a bid to revamp the crumbling power infrastructure of Pakistan, the World Bank has announced to grant aid to the tune of 256.85 million dollar today.
''While Pakistan has added about 1 million new, mainly household electricity connections each year, about a quarter of its population still has no access to electricity, and the quality of service has been deteriorating sharply,'' World Bank country director, Pakistan Yusupha Crookes was quoted as saying to Geo TV.
''This has an adverse impact on both the normal conduct of social and economic activity and the delivery of social services,'' he added.
Pakistan's electricity system lacks about 2,000 megawatts to cover peak demand, he said.
The concerned authorities of The World Bank have made the approval of the grant, sources said while the aid would be utilised to improve the distribution and power transmission network.
The country's transmission and distribution power networks are over-loaded with high technical and commercial losses. Pakistan has observed 40 per cent increase in electric power demand in the last five years.
The Electricity Distribution and Transmission Improvement project aims to improve distribution and transmission networks to meet increasing demand for electricity and to strengthen capacity of electricity companies.
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