PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has initiated a comprehensive economic plan ‘High Impact Economic Plan’ with the purpose of bringing the Newly Merged Districts of the province on at par with other regions of the country and province, in the process of development.
In view of the abundance of natural resources in the merged districts, indigenous sectors have been prioritized in the development plan so that to make maximum utilization of them.
10 important sectors including industries, commerce and technical education, mines and mineral development, agriculture, energy and power, livestock, forestry and environment, Irrigation and water, sports, tourism and youth affairs, roads & communication and border economy have been declared as important targets for the development process.
According to the economic plan, an estimate of Rs142,614 million has been earmarked for development initiatives in these districts wherein, Rs139494 million will be provided by the provincial government, while Rs3120 million will be included as the share of donor funds. Similarly, about 96 ongoing and new development projects of the merged districts have been included in the overall plan.
These projects included 23 road projects, 11 industries, 12 agriculture, 5 minerals, 8 tourism, sports and youth affairs, 3 energy and electricity, 7 livestock, 7 forestry and environment, 9 water and 11 border economy projects that will be completed.
In the economic plan, according to the expected results in the merged districts, about 61525 acres of land to be brought under irrigation while 41310 acre-feet of surface water storage capacity to be created.
Under the plan, rehabilitation and improvement of 629km of roads in the next three years have been targeted, while 274km of new roads will also be constructed during the same years.
Similarly, 320 farmers in the merged districts to be engaged in dairy farming during the next three years, 650 farmers will be trained with modern husbandry practices and 1900 high yield breeds will also be given to the relevant people.
According to the plan, electricity through off-grid solar system will be provided to 200,000 households in the seven districts while provision of electricity to 384 BHUs through off-grid solar system every year also included in the same comprehensive plan.
In the total 96 included projects of the plan, 69 new/ongoing schemes will be financed by government, 21 potential schemes can be financed through donor agencies, while six projects will be completed through public private partnership.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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