ISLAMABAD: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC)on Thursday approved nine development projects worth billions of rupees.
The ECNEC meeting was chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister (PM) on Financeand Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.
The forum accorded approval to various road infrastructure projectsincluding several sections the Indus Highway (N-55), rehabilitation andupgradation of Jhaljao–Bela Road, Peshawar Northern Bypass as well as theMadian Hydropower Project, Gabral Kalam Hydropower Project, and a powerevacuation project.
The committee also approved in-principle the ‘Locust Emergency and FoodSecurity Project’. World Bank (WB) shall provide $200 million for theproject.
According to details, the 221km N-55 Additional Carriageway Project(Shikarpur-Rajanpur section) will be completed at a total rationalised costof Rs44.7bn — to be shared by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The project envisages the construction of two additional lanes besides thewidening of the existing two-lane carriageway. The federal government’sPublic Sector Development Programme (PSDP) had allocated Rs1bn for theproject in 2020-2021.
Read Top Stories
Similarly, the construction of Rajanpur-DG Khan Section as a four-lanehighway of 9,121km would be completed at a total rationalised cost ofRs33.17bn with ADB putting in a share of Rs28.52bn.
The road that starts from Rajanpur passes through Fazilpur, MuhammadpurDewan, Jampur and terminates at DG Khan. The federal PSDP has allocatedRs0.5bn for the completion of this project in 2020-2021.
The dualisation and rehabilitation of DG Khan-DI Khan section would becompleted at a total rationalised cost of Rs52.27bn with ADB throwing inRs44.95bn. The project road starts from DG Khan then passes through ShahSadar Din, Kala, Shahdan Lund, Taunsa, Tibi Qasrani, Mahra, Paroa andterminates at DI Khan. The federal PSDP had allocated Rs0.5bn for theproject in 2020-2021.
The rehabilitation and upgradation of the 80km Jhaljao- Bela Road would bedone at a total rationalised cost of Rs11.11bn without any foreign exchangecomponent. The road starts from Jhaljao, traverses through towns of Augani,Sipai sing, Chauki and finally terminates at Bela.
