France to provide EUR180m soft loan for NTDC projects

ISLAMABAD:  France has agreed to provide EUR180m soft loan for projects run by the National Transmission & Dispatch Company (NTDC).

The loan will contribute to the government of Pakistan’s strategy to develop green energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in line with the French government’s agenda of promoting climate-friendly projects.

It is also part of the pledge and commitments announced by France at the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, which took place in Geneva on January 9.

In this regard, Secretary of Economic Affairs Division Dr Kazim Niaz, French ambassador Nicolas Galey and Country Director French Development Agency Philippe Steinmetz signed the Credit Facility Agreement here on Wednesday.

These projects are located in the vicinity of Vehari, Arifwala and Sialkot cities of Punjab.

The funding will benefit and improve the quality of power supply for 26 million inhabitants and provide reliable power supply to, arguably, Pakistan’s largest industrial city Sialkot.

FDA is also providing support in sectors including energy, water and sanitation, urban development, rural development, health and cultural heritage. Since 2006, EUR1.232b have been allocated to in lieu of various projects n these sectors Pakistan with the energy sector alone getting around EUR930m in funding.