ISLAMABAD – Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Monday accordedapproval to a project worth Rs 552.708 million and recommended threeprojects worth Rs 209.5 billion to Executive Committee of National EconomicCouncil (ECNEC).
The meeting was held here under the chairmanship of Minister for Planning,Development and Reform Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar.
Secretary Planning Zafar Hasan, senior officials from federal andprovincial governments were also present in the meeting.Projects related to energy, transport and communication sectors werepresented in the meeting.
The first energy project ‘500 KV HVDC Transmission System betweenTajikistan and Pakistan for Central Asia-South Asia TransmissionInterconnection (CASA-1000)’ worth Rs 45,989.084 million was presented byPower Division which was recommended to ECNEC for consideration.
The project envisions transmission of electricity from Tajikistan toPakistan through Afghanistan.
Energy and Power Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa presented second energyproject ‘Preparation Advance facility for proposed World Bank assistedKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Hydropower Development Project (PC-II)’ worth Rs 552.708million which was approved by CDWP.
The main objective of the project is to accelerate hydropower developmentin KP.
The World Bank assistance is being sought to accelerate development ofhydropower projects in the province.
Another energy project ‘Balakot Hydropower Project’ worth Rs 85912.926million was presented by Energy & Power Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwawhich was recommended to ECNEC for consideration.
The project envisions construction of 310 MW Balakot hydropower project onKunhar river, a major tributary of Jhelum river. The energy generated willprovide more reliable and consistent power to local area and the nationalgrid.
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In the transport and communication sector, Government of Sindh presented‘Construction of BRT Red Line Project’ worth Rs 77598 million which wasalso referred to ECNEC for consideration.
The project envisages construction of metro bus dedicated corridorsmeasuring 29.1 km in length, from Numaish to Malir Halt depot and commoncorridor of 2.4 km.
The project shall contribute to develop a sustainable urban bus transportsystem in Karachi with less travel time and enhanced mobility andaccessibility. Estimated passengers per day would be 320,000.
Concept Clearance proposal of FBR’s project ‘Domestic ResourceMobilization’ worth US $ 400 million was also given approval by CDWP.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Planning said that the incumbentGovernment had the political will and was committed to enhance tax revenuecollection by mobilizing internal resources.
He expressed optimism that FBR would bring the best policy under theproposal for increasing tax revenue collection.
Government of Sindh presented concept clearance proposal of ‘Karachi UrbanMobility Project (Yellow Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)’ worth Rs. 65968which was also approved by the Committee.
