KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has allowed M/s Karot Power Company to import tax-free machinery and equipment for establishing 720 MW Karot Hydropower Project by issuing Customs General Order (CGO) 5/2015, it is learnt. The FBR has forwarded a letter to Collector, Model Customs Collectorate of Appraisement East and West in this regard informing the Collectorate about the permission for import of machinery and equipment, sources told Daily Times. “The admissibility of the concession and fulfillment of other requirements shall be determined and ensure by the Collectorate as per rules, policy and procedure. Collectorate has also requested to strictly ensure/verify that the equipment, machinery and other capital goods imported by them are new and are purely for the purpose of construction of the power plant and to take further necessary action as per rules, policy and procedures”, it added. According to sources, M/s Karot Power Company Private Limited has requested to the Ministry of Water and Power for issuance of a certificate for availing the concessions/exemptions on import of machinery, equipment and other capital goods during the construction phase of its 720 MW Hydropower Project. Sources said that M/s Karot Power Company (Pvt) Ltd is in process of development of 720 MW Hydropower Project in IPP mode on Jhehlum River near Karot Bridge at boundary between Punjab and AJ&K under the policy for power generation projects 2002. The Commercial Operation Date for the project will be 28th December, 2021, they said. The run-of-the-river project, being developed on the Jhelum River by a joint venture led by a Chinese investment company, is located 74 kilometres upstream of the Mangla Dam and is about 1km upstream of the existing Karot Bridge. The project’s construction is expected to take five years, will include a 95.5-metre-high dam, a surface powerhouse, four headrace tunnels, a spillway and a 5km-long, 500 kilovolts transmission interconnection to the national grid. The total project cost is currently estimated at $2 billion and is expected to be funded with 20 per cent equity and 80pc debt. The debt financing for the project is expected to be provided by a consortium of Chinese lenders and the IFC.