Economic body to review 46 projects next week

Energy, health and education projects worth Rs300b may be approved.

ISLAMABAD:

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) will meet in Islamabad on May 12 to review and approve 46 development projects in energy, health and education sectors with a cumulative worth of more than Rs300 billion, officials say.

The meeting, to be presided over by Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, will also hold deliberations on 24 development projects worth more than Rs1 billion each, which had been recommended for approval by the Central Development Working Party.

According to officials, one of the main projects to be considered for approval is related to bringing efficiency in the operations of Sui Southern Gas Company for curtailing gas losses. Under the project worth Rs37 billion, being implemented with the assistance of World Bank, reforms will be introduced and latest technology will be acquired to reduce unaccounted-for-gas (theft and leakage) losses of the company.

Other projects that will be considered for approval include upgrading of University of Engineering and Technology Mirpur worth Rs1.9 billion, Punjab Irrigation System Improvement Project worth Rs9.3 billion, reconstruction of flood-hit areas in Balochistan worth Rs5 billion, doubling of 124km railway track from Shahdara Bagh to Lala Musa worth Rs14 billion, doubling of railway track from Khanewal to Raiwand worth Rs13 billion, doubling of railway track from Shahdara to Faisalabad worth Rs11 billion, installation of 134, 221 and 500 kilovolts (KV) transformers in the National Transmission and Dispatch Company system worth Rs4 billion, 121-megawatt Allai Khwar hydropower project worth Rs13 billion, a canal improvement project worth Rs30 billion, extension of immunisation programme worth Rs25 billion and infrastructure development for a proposed industrial estate in Larkana worth Rs2.4 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2011.