ISLAMABAD: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved over Rs302 billion worth nine development projects for various sectors of the economy on Wednesday.
The meeting of the ECNEC presided over by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin approved the Pakistan Optical Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS-02) project of SUPARCO worth of Rs27.913 billion.
The meeting was informed that the project will help building of an indigenous capacity in the fields of space/satellite technology and its applications, institutional capacity building of SUPARCO and promote high-tech research and development activities in the country.
This project will contribute in acquisition of self-reliance in satellite technologies in Pakistan.
The ECNEC approved Sialkot (Sambrial)–Kharian Motorway project of Rs42.382 billion submitted by the Ministry of Communication, along with directions to the NHA to present progress on development of business model to the ECC.
Ecnec approves three projects worth Rs339bn
The project envisages construction of 69km long, 4-lane wide Sambrial-Kharian Motorway with structures to be constructed for six lanes.
Forum especially lauded the efforts of the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Communication for finalising this project on the PPP basis.
The ECNEC also gave approval to the New Gwadar International Airport(NGIA) 2nd revised project of Rs51.298 billion.
The 2nd revised project envisages construction of NGIA along with allied facilities over a piece of land already acquired.
The NGIA will replace the existing airport at Gwadar, which has small terminal building with limited capacity.
The new airport will be suitable for bigger aircrafts like Airbus A-380 and Boeing-747 and 777 etc for international and domestic services.
The ECNEC also approved the project of the Ministry of Energy on the ADB-funded advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) in the IESCO at a cost of Rs16.930 billion, with directives to start the project without any delay as a pilot project and include other electric supplying companies.
The project envisages enhancing load control and loading management up to the interface of the electricity distribution system operated by the distribution companies (DISCOs).
The AMI project is designed as a least cost solution to reduce losses and efficiently balancing supply in the specific areas of the IESCO.
The meeting of the ECNEC also approved the position paper for amendments in the ECNEC decision, 2004 and for approval of Self-Finance Development Schemes of distribution companies/entities, submitted by Ministry of Energy.
The ECNEC also approved Remodelling of Warsak Canal System in Peshawar and Nowshera districts worth Rs16.695.81 billion.
The 2nd revised PC-1 was considered on 50:50 cost sharing basis between federal and provincial government.
Any variation in the cost of the project will be borne by the provincial government.
The meeting approved the Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP- revised) project by HEC worth Rs12.782 billion financed by the World Bank.
The project activities will be executed throughout Pakistan.
The ECNEC also considered a project Pak University of Engineering and Emerging Technologies (PUEET) Phase-I (Knowledge Economy Initiative) of the HEC with a cost of Rs23.54 billion.
The PUEET would be a research and commercialization university, which would house various centres of excellence in the cutting-edge fields of science and technology and a state-of-the-art- technology park.
The ECNEC gave approval to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Project (KPCIP) at a cost of Rs97.146 billion.
The KPCIP will improve the quality of life of the residents of five KP cities including Abbottabad, Kohat, Mardan, Mingora, and Peshawar.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Khusru Bakhtiar, federal secretaries, and other senior officers from federal as well as provincial government.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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