ISLAMABAD:Work on the 720 Mega Watt Karot Hydropower Station is going on smoothly and the project is likely to be completed by end of 2021.

The project which is a part of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is to be completed at a cost of US$1420 million.

According to a report quoting official sources, the land acquisition award had already been done and the financial close of the project was achieved on February 2, 2017.

The 25 percent civil works of the project has been completed as construction of access road/bridge, concrete batching plant, diversion tunnel and spillway is in process.

The project is located at River Jhelum in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. It is the fourth among the five cascade hydropower projects being developed along the Jhelum River.

Its structure layout includes rock-fill dam, spillway, powerhouse, diversion tunnels, head race power tunnels and tail race tunnel.

The project was being developed on Build-Own-Operate-Transfer basis with five years construction period and 30 years concession period.

Karot Hydropower Project, executed by Karot Power Company (Pvt) Limited, has been listed as one of the prioritized projects under the CPEC.

The project’s main sponsor, China Three Gorges (CTG) South Asia Investment Limited, is an investment arm of CTG Corporation in South Asia, the report said. The construction of the project has also provided employment to more than 2,000 people.