Government doubles Khwaja Fareed University’s cost of construction

According to revised plan, new cost of building varsity has gone up to Rs6.97bn

LAHORE: The Punjab government has doubled the amount for the construction of Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology (KFUEIT), Rahim Yar Khan.

Initially, Rs3.84 billion was allocated and now the total amount that will be spent on the construction of the university has been increased to Rs6.97 billion.

According to the revised plan for the university, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, the new cost of building the university has gone up to Rs6.97 billion. The new cost includes the capital cost of Rs6.82 billion and the recurring expenditure of Rs150 million. The government estimates that the university will be completed in four years.

The documents reveal that the foundation of KFUEIT, the first engineering and technology university in South Punjab, was laid by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on April 22, 2014. Subsequently, a detailed plan was approved for building the university costing the provincial government Rs3.84 billion. A total of 220 acres of land on Abu Dhabi Road, Rahim Yar Khan has been allocated for the university.

Later on, the Punjab Assembly passed the Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan Act on May 29, 2014. In September, the university started classes in 2014 in the Government College of Technology, Shehbazpur Road. In 2015, the administration and classes were shifted to the campus in partially completed buildings and blocks. The university is mostly still under-construction.

According to the revised documents, the justification for the increase in the cost of building the university has been attributed to several factors. The cost of the KFUEIT has been increased due to the buildings' design, specifications, need for extra material, including steel, civil and electrical items.

The document also attributes the increase to the inclusion of new items by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Punjab Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gillani. It further attributes the increase to external development works such as street lights, water filtration system and sewerage, which had been previously estimated at Rs371.727 million but now require Rs1.28 billion.

Other increases in cost include horticulture arrangements for the campus, which were previously earmarked at Rs2.046 million but now the requirement had been revised to Rs70.737 million. It also added that the increase was inevitable as the growing requirements of the varsity more rapidly as previously planned, with the increased costs of transport, lab equipment, furniture, fixtures, books and journals.

The total difference in the previously approved cost of the whole project has been increased for almost Rs3.12 billion. Among the parts of the project for which the cost has been increased include a boys hostel with an increased cost of Rs254.38 million, teaching labs and equipment with an increase of Rs607.84 million, the cost of constructing residences has jumped for an amount of Rs102.44 million among many other increases.

Punjab Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gillani and Punjab Higher Education Secretary Nabeel Awan were contacted for comments for the increase in the cost of the varsity. However, both did not respond to a request for comments until the filing of this report.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2018.