A Russian company is eyeing Pakistan for a 30 year power deal worth up to $90 billion, Moscow 's business daily Kommersant reported recently. Russia 's export monopoly Inter-RAO would supply this electricity from hydel and thermal plants under construction in Tajikistan and Kazakhstan , the company's deputy general director Alisher Kalanov told the newspaper after recent negotiations with Pakistan .

The power may come on line in about six years and would require investment of several hundred million dollars, he told the paper. The deal would be worth 2.5 to 3.0 billion dollars per year over 30 years, supplying 50-60 billion kilowatt-hours per year to Pakistan , whose current annual production is 82 billion kilowatt-hours, the paper said.

However, exporting electricity to Pakistan in a cost effective manner would require building of high voltage transmission lines across Afghan-istan, a geopolitical complication that could undermine the project's viability.