The Ministry of Energy and Water told TOLOnews that the practical work on the CASA-1000 project will begin after Eid al-Fitr.

According to the spokesperson of the ministry, the CASA-1000 project is expected to be operational by 2026, and with the completion of this project, Afghanistan will annually receive $75 million in transit fees.

Work on this electricity transmission project was halted after the Islamic Emirate came back into power in the country.

"The World Bank has financed this regional project, which, Inshallah, will start its practical work after Eid and will be operational by 2026. This project is beneficial for Afghanistan," said Matiullah Abid, spokesman for the Ministry of Energy and Water.

The cost of the CASA-1000 project is $1.2 billion, out of which $260 million will be spent in Afghanistan, with $160 million of that amount having been paid by the World Bank during the previous government.
 
"Afghanistan can earn $50 million annually from transit fees, acquire three hundred megawatts of electricity annually, and about two to three million dollars for the maintenance of electricity, and the security of this route will benefit from the CASA-1000 fund in the regions it passes through," said Amanullah Ghalib, the former head of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat.

The CASA-1000 project in Afghanistan passes through 600 locations in 33 districts in the provinces of Kunduz, Panjshir, Kapisa, Kabul, Laghman, and Nangarhar, and with its implementation, the mentioned provinces will benefit from its electricity.

"For the practical work of this project, there must be a systematic plan, and the government must have a plan," said Mohammad Nabi Afghan, an economist.

"From a regional perspective, the CASA-1000 project mainly gives us a transit position, we can exert pressure, and on the other hand, it is actually the reactivation of the World Bank," said Sayed Masoud, an economist.

The CASA-1000 project, one of the key projects for the transfer of electricity from Central Asia to South Asia, was planned in 2008, a memorandum of understanding was signed in 2010, and various contracts were signed between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in 2018.

According to information from the Central Bank of Afghanistan, with the implementation of the CASA-1000 project, $40 million of infrastructure projects will be constructed along this line in Afghanistan.