Work on KCR to start within a month: Swati

Minister for Railways Muhammad Azam Khan Swati on Tuesday informed the Senate that Frontier Works Organization (FWO) would start work on the ground in a month on the new Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project worth Rs220 billion.

He was replying to a calling-attention notice moved by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed regarding delay in the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway despite repeated announcements by the federal government.

The minister said a new KCR was being built with an estimated cost of Rs220 billion on the basis of public-private partnership. Efforts would be made to complete the project within 36 months, he added.

The minister said all required steps including planning had already been completed in this regard and we were waiting for the final meeting of the board.  KCR was a viable and good project in line with the designs of modern cosmopolitan cities in other countries.

He clarified that KCR was not a Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) project rather it was based on public-private partnership.

As seed money, the federal government would provide Rs20 billion while the Sindh government would chip in with Rs6 billion for the project. The minister said K-Electric has already assured it will provide a separate dedicated power supply for KCR.

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Swati said influential people had encroached upon precious Railways' land but in the last 11 months, huge land was retrieved from them.

He said the federal government has launched 16 small and large development projects in Karachi which would be completed within one year.

The past governments had ignored the railways during their tenures and their focus remained only on the road network.

However, the minister said under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the incumbent government was focused on transforming the entire Railways system and the ML1 project would be of great importance in this regard.

He said 185 railway stations were also being switched on solar energy to control Rs2.5 billion annual losses under power theft by railway officials. Around 6,000 electricity meters have been installed in the last 10 months so far, he added.