ECNEC approves Rs20.7b infrastructure project for KCR: Umar

Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar said on Friday that the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved Rs20.7 billion infrastructure project for the Karachi Circular Railways (KCR).

In a tweet, the minister shared that after the approval of the funds, the groundbreaking ceremony of the railways project will likely be held next week in which Prime Minister Imran Khan will participate as the chief guest.

The KCR scheme envisaged the construction of a 43km-long world-class affordable mass transit system by using environment-friendly electric trains.

Read KCR fails again to attract Karachi’ites

In November last year following a Supreme Court order, the Pakistan Railways had partially restored the Karachi Circular Railway after more than two decades overcoming some of its shortcomings of the past.

Last month, Umar had directed Pakistan Railways to complete all the formalities at the earliest and ensure necessary arrangements were made for the groundbreaking of the KCR infrastructure by September 2021.

While chairing a meeting to review the latest status of the KCR and railways freight corridor projects, he said that simultaneous work on PPP components of the KCR would result in months of time saving and completion of the project. Hence, the railways should expedite consultation with P3A.