GILGIT, Feb 13: The government has signed an agreement with Exim Bank of China for a loan of $190 million to be spent on the construction of an 18mw power house at Naltar.

The money has been borrowed to construct the power house in four years in order to overcome the problem of power shutdowns in Gilgit, Northern Areas Public Works Department (NAPWD) officials told Dawn on Wednesday.

NAPWD superintending engineer Nasir Ali Shigri said the project included a reinforced cement concrete bridge over the Hunza River, widening and metalling of Naltar Road, setting up of regional grid station and transmission line up to Gilgit.

According to the officials, the total generation of power in Gilgit is 2.8mw against the demand of 16mw.

They said the PWD had received Rs1.22b of which Rs231.22 million was earmarked for the power sector per annum, but the fund was insufficient and required an additional 10 per cent increase in the budget each year.

Besides power generation, the PWD takes care of 87 hydropower stations, 4,000 roads and 6,000 school and hospital buildings in the region.

The officials said the appointment of a full-fledged finance secretary in Northern Areas would help improve the financial requirements and that allocations for various fields of development would be negotiated with the Centre.