"The work on the 300 Mega Watt Kishanganga power project is in advanced stage. We need to speed up the work on the project as Pakistan is also constructing a power project on the river with Chinese assistance," Ramesh told reporters here.
He said the power project was based on 'run of the water' and did not involve storage of water at any stage. Asked about the rationale behind constructing two projects on the same river when one of the two will not be viable, Ramesh said the project had great strategic and foreign policy implications.
"I am sure Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must have given a thought to it." He said only the Prime Minister or the External Affairs Minister would be able to comment on the issue.
"However, we are determined to implement the project which was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2007," he added.
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On the Baglihar power project, Ramesh said the first phase of the project will be commission by March next year. "150 MW will be in the stream by August this year, 150 MW in October and another 150 MW in December, but in power sector, what is on paper is not necessarily what happens," he said.
Asked about the funds crunch faced by the project, the Minister said the Centre was very keen that the project is not held up for want of funds.