PTI govt seeks PPRA waiver for Kartarpur Corridor construction

Approves Eastbay Expressway project of CPEC at an upwardly revised cost of Rs17.4b

ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday decided to seek a waiver from the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) for starting construction work on over Rs16 billion Kartarpur corridor project at India border without first ensuring competitive bidding.

It also approved the Eastbay Expressway project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) at an upwardly revised cost of Rs17.4 billion – days before the scheduled visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to China. The planning ministry was not clearing the revised Eastbay Expressway project for last over one year due to its objections on lack of financing details and change in design.

These decisions were taken by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) that met under the chair of Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. The ECNEC took decisions having total net financial implications of nearly Rs204 billion.



"The ECNEC granted ex-post facto approval to the development of Phase-1 of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor on EPE/Turnkey mode," according to a handout issued by the Finance Ministry after the ECNEC meeting.

It was decided in the meeting that a case would be moved for seeking a waiver of the PPRA for giving construction contracts to Frontier Works Organization without first floating a tender. Under the PPRA Rules of 2004, the public contracts cannot be given without first ensuring competitive bidding.

It was also decided in the meeting that the Kartarpur project would not be exempted from regular audit, said an official of the planning ministry.

The government decided to initiate work on the Kartarpur project without fulfilling the PPRA requirements to open the corridor for religious tourists from India at the earliest.

The government plans to inaugurate the corridor early next month and has decided to invite former Indian premier Manmohan Singh on the occasion.



The ECNEC also gave final approval to increase the cost of land acquisition of the Dasu hydropower project that would raise the overall cost of the project to Rs511 billion.

The upward revision has primarily been made in the land acquisition component, where the cost was approved to increase from Rs12 billion to Rs39.6 billion – a jump of Rs27.6 billion or 230%.

The Ministry of Planning and Development had sought the increase in the land acquisition cost after imposition of Section 4 by the local administration.

In its 10th report on series of Implementation Status and Results Report of the 2,160-megawatts Dasu hydropower project, the Washington-based lender upgraded the project rating to 'moderately satisfactory' but it linked the future ratings with Pakistan's ability on how quickly it resolved a five-year-old dispute over the cost of land acquisition for the project.

The ECNEC approved the construction of the Karachi Urban Mobility Project (Yellow Bus Rapid Transit-BRT Corridor) to be executed by the Government of Sindh at a cost of Rs61.4 billion.

The project to be funded mainly by the World Bank would cover a distance of 21kms and starts from Korangi Industrial Road Dawood Chowrangi Landhi and would integrate with Red BRT Corridor.



The project would have 28 stations with a facility of 268 buses and around­ 300,000 passengers would benefit from the corridor every day.

The ECNEC also approved the construction of the Peshawar-Torkham Motorway Project as component-1 of Khyber Pass Economic Corridor (KPEC) at a rationalised cost of Rs36.7 billion. The WB would provide an Rs34.5 billion loan.

The meeting also approved component-II "Economic Development & Uplift of Areas Adjoining the Motorway" for which the Framework Agreement to facilitate preparation and feasibilities through the World Bank had been agreed at a total cost of Rs8.4 billion. The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would submit PC-1 envisaged under the component-II after the feasibility and detailed design.

The ECNEC further approved a project for Interlinking of 220 kV Daharki, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, and Chishtian grid stations for up-gradation of power supply system in southern areas at an updated cost of Rs15.8 billion.

The ECNEC approved construction of a four-lane 18.98km long Expressway on East Bay of Gwadar Port at a cost of Rs17.4billion with a foreign exchange component of Rs16.4 billion to link Gwadar Port with the Makran Coastal Highway as well as with Gwadar Free Zone and future container terminals.

The project would also have one interchange and four bridges, four pedestrian overhead bridges along with cross-drainage structures and allied works.

The ECNEC also approved Lahore Water and Wastewater Management Project-Construction of Surface Water Treatment Plant at a cost of Rs21 billion with a foreign exchange component of Rs19.7 billion to provide an adequate quantity of safe drinking water to the target areas of Lahore.

In order to ensure fast releases of development funds, the ECC approved a proposal by the Planning Commission for simplification of development funds release process, including the release of project-wise funds allocated in PSDP to the ongoing approved projects.