The government has approved the New Gwadar International Airport project ata cost of Rs. 55.4 billion, about 147% higher than the first revision.
The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) – a body mandated toscrutinize and approve development schemes and refer the mega projects tothe Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) – approved theproject on Monday. It also endorsed a reduction in the scope of a Gwadarroad scheme.
Chaired by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Jehanzeb Khan, the CDWPmeeting took up the airport project to be financed by the Government ofPakistan funds and a Chinese grant of 1.52 billion yuan or Rs. 34 billion.
——————————
Initially, the airport project was approved at the cost of Rs. 7.5 billionin 2010 and the revised one was cleared in 2015 at a cost of Rs. 22.2billion. The CDWP approved the second revision on Monday at a cost of Rs.55.4 billion, Rs. 33 billion or 147% higher than the 2015 cost.
Read Top Stories
According to a CDWP official, a significant increase in the cost is becausethe second revision is based on a project’s detailed design.
The CDWP asked the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to review the possibilityof reducing the construction cost of buildings to be used by the AirportSecurity Force (ASF) and the CAA.
