ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Water Resources Khurshid Ahmad Shah has said that the government will import three million tons of wheat and reduce taxes on the agriculture sector to give relief to the farmers.

He said that the government will import three million tons of wheat to meet the domestic need. Addressing at a news conference along with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders, Faisal Karim Kundi and Chaudhry Manzoor Hussain here on Wednesday, he said three million tons of wheat is being imported to cater to the needs of the country.

Shah said that Rs 105 billion has been proposed for water reservoirs and its amount may be increased Rs 20 billion to Rs 30 billion.

He said that the government also plans to abolish the sales tax on tractors. He said that the water condition in Mangla and Tarbela dams would become better in the next few days.

He said that the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved Rs 250 billion Chashma Right Bank Canal (Stage-II), and referred with the recommendation to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for further approval. He said that this project would bring a revolution in the agriculture of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that work on under-construction Mohmand dam will be completed next year. He said the construction work on dams will be executed on a fast track basis.

The minister said that he would visit the Bhasha Dam and Daso Dam on 12th of this month. He said that there is a major role of agriculture in our economic development and we have focused on it in the coming budget2022-23.

Speaking on the occasion, Kundi said that work on Chashma Canal project was stopped in the previous PTI government which is shameful. He said that it will resolve the long-standing issues of farmers of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said after the completion of this project, we will be in a position to export wheat, especially to Afghanistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022