LAHORE: Pal(istan Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has commenced construction work on Hydro Power Training Institute (HPTI), Mangla.

French Ambassadors Mrs Martine Dorance and the European Union (EU) Jean Francois Cautain jointly broke the ground to initiate construction work on HPTI in a ceremony held on Monday.

Wapda Member (water) Nasir Hanif, Senior officials of French Agencyfor Development (AFD),European Union (EU) also attended the ceremony.

EU is providing 2.5 million Euros as grant, while AFD is giving 1.5 million Euros funding as loan for setting up the state-of-the-art training facility to enhance technical capabilities of engineers and technicians associated with hydro power sector in Pakistan.

Addressing the ceremony, Mr Hanif thanked the EU and AFD for their support for establishment of the HPTI, adding that Wapda highly valued their unancial assistance for the development of water and hydro power resources in Pakistan.He said that HPTI was the first broad-based training institute of its kind that would prove to be instrumental for capacity building of the engineers and technical staff, leading to sustainable development of hydroelectric generation in Pakistan.

For the last 10 years, France through AFD has been promoting green energy in Pakistan and has allocated more than 300 million Euros for investment in hydroelectricity.

About 80 per cent of the amount is being used for financing the projects implemented by Wapda to develop the local potential in hydroelectricity.