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WAPDA has formally approved TrafoLink (Pvt) Ltd as a qualified supplier of power transformers and medium-voltage panels following an extensive technical evaluation. The listing allows TrafoLink to participate in WAPDA procurement programmes and reinforces Pakistan's push to source critical grid equipment from domestic manufacturers.
Barclays has upgraded Pakistan's dollar-denominated sovereign bonds to 'overweight' and specifically recommended buying the 2031 WAPDA bond, reversing a downgrade issued just one month earlier. The move, driven by an improved oil market outlook and stronger external buffers, could ease fuel cost pressure on electricity bills across Pakistan.
The FPCCI has formally objected to the IGCEP 2025-35, telling NEPRA the plan's PLEXOS-based costing is fundamentally flawed and that its cheapest tariff projection of Rs. 49 per unit has never been tested for consumer affordability. The federation warns that committing over $57 billion to generation and transmission offers no guarantee that consumer tariffs will stay at or below today's Rs. 33.38 per unit average.
Pakistan has tabled the Wapda Security Force Act, 2026 in parliament to create a dedicated force guarding hydel infrastructure and workers at major water-sector sites. The bill follows two deadly terrorist attacks on the over $6 billion Dasu Hydropower Project that suspended construction for more than a year.
WAPDA reports that Tarbela Dam has generated 586 billion units of electricity and delivered $460 billion in economic benefits to Pakistan in the 50 years since 1974. The dam's fifth extension, backed by $690 million from the World Bank and AIIB, is under active construction and will raise total installed capacity from 4,888MW to 6,418MW.
Pakistan's Central Development Working Party publicly rebuked WAPDA on Thursday over massive cost overruns and transparency failures on the Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Tarbela 5th Extension projects. The Tarbela 5th Extension alone has ballooned from an original Rs82 billion estimate to Rs316.4 billion and has been referred to ECNEC for urgent review.