ISLAMABAD: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Thursday approved several developmental projects to boost the social sector, including communications, water, and energy.
According to a press release issued here, the ECNEC met on Thursday under the chairmanship of Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, whereas Federal Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, SAPM Tariq Bajwa, SAPM Tariq Mehmood Pasha, Federal Secretaries, and other officials also participated in the meeting.
Accordingly, the ECNEC considered and approved revised project of Ministry of Communication titled “Dualization of Rawalpindi –Kahuta road (28.4 km) including 4-lane bridge over Sihala Railway pass, Sihala bypass and Kahuta bypass” at a revised cost of Rs. 23,545.021 million on financing share of 50:50 basis by the provincial and federal and the project would be executed by National Highway Authority (NHA).
The Executive Committee also considered a revised project of the Ministry of Defence Production titled “Infrastructure Up-gradation of Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW).”
The ECNEC approved the project at a revised updated cost of Rs.10,689.807mln, including FEC of Rs.4,934.564 million.
ECNEC Approve Development Projects
The ECNEC also accorded approval to a project titled “Construction of Abdul Khel – Dhakhi- Kallurkot (45 kms) road” for Rs. 14,257.294 million without FEC. The project would be executed by NHA in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) at 50:50 cost sharing between the central and KP government.
A revised project of the Ministry of Water Resources titled “Garuk Storage Dam, district Kharan was also considered and approved, which would be executed by Irrigation Department, Baluchistan government in Kharan district. The project is to cover mitigating and storing flood waters of the Garuk River and provide water for irrigation.
The ECNEC approved the revised project for Rs. 27,753.763 million without FEC.
The Committee of the National Economic Council also considered and approved a separate project of the Ministry of Water Resources titled “Remodelling of Pat Feeder Canal System in, district Naseerabad of Baluchistan Province” for Rs. 61,793.367 million without FEC. The project would be financed through Federal and Provincial governments on an 80:20 cost-sharing basis.
Another project of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) titled “Chasma Nuclear Power Project Unit-5 (C-5)” was approved at a rationalized cost of Rs.1,047,988.84 million with FEC of Rs.187,098.96 million and Chinese credit of Rs.820,742.99 million to install a nuclear power plant of 1200 MW capacity in Mianwali.
The ECNEC also accorded approval to a project of the Sindh government on the Construction/Re-construction of existing schools in Sindh affected under Rain/Flood-2022 in Sindh at a cost of Rs.12,338.294 million, with a 50:50 cost-sharing basis between federal and Sindh governments.
The Executive Committee awarded approval of another project related to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) submitted by the Planning Commission titled “Investment Project Financing (IPF) Component of Pakistan Raises Revenue Project” for Rs. 21,518.677 million (i.e., US$ 80 million World Bank loan) to enhance tax to GDP ratio.
Under the project, mobile facilitation centers would be established in a phased manner.
