Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon and Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov have officially inaugurated a key section of the CASA-1000 regional power transmission project.
The ceremony, held in Khujand, Tajikistan’s Sughd province, marked the activation of the 500-kilovolt Datka–Sughd transmission line, connecting the two Central Asian nations.
The launch was attended by energy ministers from both countries, with Tajikistan’s Presidential Office announcing that official documents for the project were signed prior to the inauguration.
The CASA-1000 project, first launched in Tajikistan in 2016, aims to export surplus electricity from Central Asia to South Asia, particularly to Pakistan, via Afghanistan. The project’s route includes seven Afghan provinces and, once complete, will enable the transmission of hydropower from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to energy-scarce regions in South Asia.
Funded by major international institutions—including the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development—the initiative carries an estimated cost of $1.2 billion. Originally slated for completion by March 2022, the project has faced delays, particularly due to instability in Afghanistan.
Following the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, work on the Afghan section of CASA-1000 was suspended. However, in August 2024, Farhad Mahmoudi, Head of Programmes at the Taliban’s Ministry of Energy and Water, confirmed that talks with the World Bank had resumed and that practical work on the Afghan portion would begin soon. He projected that the Taliban-led administration could earn up to $65 million annually in transit revenue once the project becomes operational.
Tajikistan’s Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Daler Juma, stated in January 2025 that the full CASA-1000 project is expected to be operational by 2027, pending the completion of the Afghan segment. He noted that the primary obstacle remains the halted funding for infrastructure development in Afghanistan.
According to Juma, work on Pakistan’s portion of the transmission line is expected to be finalised by mid-2025.
In February 2024, the World Bank confirmed that, at the request of participating countries—Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan—it would resume construction in Afghanistan. However, the Bank stipulated that all financial transactions for the Afghan segment would be managed externally and kept separate from the Taliban’s administrative systems to ensure transparency and accountability.
