ISLAMABAD: Wednesday, prior to the conclusion of the government’s constitutional term, the Executive Committee of the Economic Council (Ecnec) continued sanctioning seven additional projects worth Rs446 billion and revised a solarization project for countrywide tube wells worth Rs377 billion.
Read more with EL news: ECNEC approves Khawazakhela-Besham Motorway, LHR Ring Road SL-3
Additionally, Ecnec approved six projects with a total estimated cost of Rs1.077 trillion the week prior. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar presided over the meeting, which was also attended by Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, special assistants to prime minister Tariq Bajwa and Tariq Pasha, federal secretaries, and provincial representatives.
Ecnec approved the Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme to be implemented by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Islamabad at a cost of Rs16.8bn, including a foreign exchange component (FEC) of Rs15.166bn. The federal government will finance and execute the project within two years, or 2023-2025.
It also authorised the Modernisation of Hydromet Services of Pakistan PMD in Pakistan (MHSP) at a cost of Rs14,499 billion to be carried out by Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) throughout the country.
The World Bank is funding the initiative as part of the Post-Flood 2022 Reconstruction Program. The project, with local financing of Rs5.5bn and FEC of Rs9bn, is expected to enhance the PMD’s capacity to forecast and provide real-time updates for natural disasters such as floods and cyclones.
The estimated cost for the Water Requirement for K-IV Project Improvement of Kalri Baghar Feeder & Keenjhar Lake — Plain Cement Concrete (PCC) Lining of Karli Baghar Feeder Upper-Phase-I Project — was approved by the Ecnec.
The project would be executed in the two districts of Sindh, Jamshoro and Thatta, and would be co-financed 50:50 by the federal and provincial administrations. The provincial irrigation department of Sindh would be responsible for implementing the initiative to increase water supply to Karachi via the Indus River. The duration of the undertaking is four years.
Without FEC, Ecnec also approved the Lahore Ring Road-Southern Loop (SL-3) Construction of the Road from Raiwind Road to Multan Road at a total cost of Rs17,786bn.
The government of Punjab will fund the entire endeavor through its annual development plan.
The construction of the Khawazakhela-Besham Motorway (48Km) at a cost of Rs79,131 billion was also approved without FEC. The National Highway Authority (NHA) will execute the project in the KPK districts of Shangla and Swat. The complete cost of the project will be covered by the Federal Public Sector Development Program (PSDP). In four years and seven months, the project will connect Khwawzakhela on the N-95 Highway to Besham on the N-35. The initiative is anticipated to eventually become part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Another project of the Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training titled Pakistan Education Fund was approved in principle at a cost of Rs14bn to be carried out across the nation by the Higher Education Commission, National Education Scholarship for Talent (NEST).
Scholarships in the disciplines of nursing, the arts, and higher education will be funded through the PSDP 2023-24.
The meeting also approved the construction of the Lahore-Sahiwal-Bahwalnagar Motorway (295 km) Phase –I at a cost of Rs263.796 billion in the districts of Bahawalpur, Kasur, Lahore, Okara, Pakpattan, and Sahiwal. The initiative will be funded by the Federal PSDP.
In addition, Ecnec approved a summary of the Ministry of National Food Security & Research for revision of the Prime Minister’s National Program for Solarization Agriculture Tube Wells in Punjab, Sindh, KP and Baluchistan and permitted inclusion of existing pumping systems on small dams, ponds, and river/stream/nullah ponds that serve the same purpose as tube wells. Last week, the Ecnec approved the project with an estimated cost of Rs377.236bn for solarization of tube wells and added a new insertion to allow “properly installed existing pumping systems on small dams, ponds and rivers, streams, and nullah ponds in barani areas serving the same purpose as tube-wells are also eligible for solarization” to benefit farmers in barani areas as well.