Infrastructure: Sindh plans to invest and catch up with Punjab

Development plan includes massive upgrades to Sindh’s power and transportation infrastructure.

KARACHI:

In order to compete with other provinces, Sindh plans to invest massively in its physical infrastructure, allocating most of its development budget for that effort, said Dr Kaiser Bengali, advisor to the Sindh chief minister, at a post-budget press conference in Karachi on Saturday.

Bengali laid out an ambitious development plan for the province that included massive upgrades to Sindh’s power and transportation infrastructure. He pointed out that, of the total development budget for the province for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, two-thirds had been allocated towards infrastructure spending.

“Our target is to construct motorways of European standards and most of these motorways will be completed over the next 7 years,” he said.

The emphasis on infrastructure seems spurred by the feeling amongst the PPP-led administration in the province that Sindh’s physical infrastructure is inferior to that of Punjab and needs significant improvements.



Published in The Express Tribune, June 12th, 2011.