Tarbela Dam Project

The Tarbela Dam Project was the centerpiece of Pakistan's post-independence water and power development program, built on the Indus River under the Indus Basin water-sharing arrangements agreed with India in 1960. Construction ran from 1968 to 1976 with financing from the World Bank and a consortium of international lenders, and the dam was designed primarily for irrigation storage with hydropower as a major secondary benefit. The project has undergone repeated extensions since completion to add generating capacity and address reservoir sedimentation, remaining a central pillar of Pakistan's electricity and irrigation systems.