ECNEC approves 53 projects worth Rs478bn
The Committee met here Thursday under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.
The meeting was attended by Naveed Qamar Federal Minister for Water and Power, Dr. Asim Hussain, Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Federal Minister for Privatization, Federal Minister for Production, Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar Minister of State for Finance, Economic Affairs and Foreign Affair and Dr. Nadeem-ul-Haque, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission.
Provincial Minister for Finance Sindh, Federal Secretaries and representatives from Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab, KPK, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, and representatives of sponsoring agencies also attended the meeting.
The meeting approved 15 foreign funded projects worth Rs.165.5 billion including the foreign exchange component of Rs.117 billion.
Seven Flood Rehabilitation Projects worth Rs.64.5 billion including the foreign exchange component of Rs. 28 billion were also approved by the Committee.
Thirty one (31) projects including transport and communications, water and power, health education, industries and commerce were among the Fifty Three (53) approved project by the ECNEC.
The approved projects include Rs. 2,091.4 million including Rs.34.0 million FEC for feasibility study, detailed engineering design and preparation of tender documents for Bunji dam (Revised).
Twenty Two (22) projects of transport and communication sector were also approved comprising the Construction of Northern Bypass from Qasim Bela to Shershah Road Multan Bypass including Grade Separated Elevated bridge over railway line 7 N-70 (length 12.229 km-Phase-III).
The Construction of 2-Lane Bridge over River Indus at Khushal Garh, District Kohat, Rehabilitation of NGHA highways Network damaged due to un-Precedent Moonsoon rain and Foods, 2010 was also approved.
Gwadar Deep Water Port Project-Phase-I (2nd Revised),Installation of Ship Lift and Transfer System and associated machinery and Equipment to provide Docking and repair facilities to Surface Ships, Submarines and Commercial Vessels (Revised) were also approved by the ECNEC.
It also approved the Construction of Northern Bypass from Bosan road to Qasim Bela Multan Including approach road from Northern Bypass to Multan Airport via Jameelabad Chowk Multan (length 16.05 km Phase-II).
Two projects of health sector worth Rs.26,983 million including Rs.14,195 million F.E.C comprising Medical Equipment and Ambulances for DHQ Hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Expended Program on Immunization (EPI) (Revised) were also approved.
Other important approved projects were up-gradation and additional works of Expo Centre, Lahore, Establishment of Turbines and Power Plants Equipment Manufacturing Facility at heavy Mechanical Complex, Taxila, Kala Dhaka Area development Project (Revised) were also approved.
Ther ECNEC also approved Umbrella PC-I for Sindh Flood Emergency Reconstruction Project for bunds and Canals (2010), 76 Nos Emegent Flloed protection Schemes,Restoration of Canals/ Structures Damages and Restoration of Drains/ structure Damages.
Secretary Planning and Development Division, Sohail Ahmed briefed the meeting about the need for rationalizing the portfolio in line with resource availability.
He also emphasized the need for a balance between new and ongoing projects, and the optimization of available resources.
In his concluding remarks, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh thanked the Planning Commission and all relevant departments for their commitment and dedication in the work and approval of the projects.
He also emphasized the need for improving monitoring and evaluation of the projects to ensure transparency and best utilization of national resources for the benefit of the people and economic development of the country.
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011