PTI govt approves 6 projects costing Rs98 billion

The federal government approved six projects at a cost of Rs98 billion, of which four of them had been revised repeatedly. Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the meeting of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) that approved the six schemes costing Rs97.6 billion, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance. A project for the construction of Mandra-Chakwal road had been approved by Ecnec, led by Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, at a cost of Rs2.7 billion in 2012. Shaikh has now approved it at a revised cost of Rs11.9 billion, which was 348% higher. Former PM Ashraf gave the contract to the National Logistics Cell (NLC) in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules. The Islamabad High Court later struck down the award of the contract. However, in competitive bidding, NLC again won the contract by offering the lowest bid. The Irrigation Department of Balochistan will execute the project. Ecnec directed the government of Balochistan to ensure the completion of the project within the revised scope and cost. The Naulong Dam project, with the PC-I revised for the second time, was granted, in principle, approval to enable the Economic Affairs Division to start negotiations with the Asian Development Bank for finalizing details of project financing, according to the Ministry of Finance. The total cultivable command area of the project has been increased from the earlier proposed 9,900 acres to 47,000 acres while the proposed power generation capacity of the project has also been raised. The technical appraisal section has asked several questions about the hydrology and seismic data of the area where the Naulong Dam is under construction. It endorsed the construction of National Electronic Complex of Pakistan, Phase-I in the H-9/1 sector of Islamabad at a revised cost of Rs16.1 billion. This project had been approved at a cost of Rs10.9 billion many years ago. The project will help in technology acquisition for the achievement of self-reliance in research, design and manufacturing in the information and communication technology sector. It will also help give early warning systems for disaster management and aid in electronic measures for the security of national assets, electronic exploration of natural resources on land/ sea and designing and fabrication of integrated circuits and systems on chips. It is expected that the project will be completed by June 2022. The National Programme for Enhancing the Command Area in Barani Areas of Pakistan was approved at a total cost of Rs25.4 billion. The project scope includes construction of 2,664 farm ponds for storing rainwater from various sources and installation of solar pumping systems on farm ponds for the operation of high-efficiency irrigation systems.