Infrastructure development: Govt clears Rs244.5 billion worth of projects
Power ministry asked to help provinces develop small hydropower projects.
The approved projects were from energy‚ water resources‚ education‚ governance‚ science and technology‚ social welfare and agriculture sectors. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved 38 development projects worth Rs244.5 billion in a meeting chaired by Minister for Planning‚ Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal.
The approved projects were from energy‚ water resources‚ education‚ governance‚ science and technology‚ social welfare and agriculture sectors. Multiple feasibility studies to improve rail and transport links along the proposed economic corridor with China were also approved.
The meeting cleared a feasibility study for rail tracks connecting Gwadar to Karachi through a 700km track‚ and one from Gwadar to Basima and then from Basima to Jacobabad via Khuzdar spread over 1,048 km.
Another feasibility study for new rail tracks from Havelian to the Pakistan-China border was also approved. The feasibility study for the Karachi-Lahore 1,160km motorway and the Muzaffarabad-Mirpur-Mangla N-5 expressway was also approved.
A project costing Rs400 million to upgrade Larkana Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy (LINAR) was approved. The revised Kachhi Canal project costing Rs57 billion, which will irrigate 100‚000 acres of land in Dera Bugti, and Dubair Khawar Hydropower Project costing Rs27 billion were also approved.
The planning minister directed the Ministry of Water and Power and the Water and Power Development Authority chairman to set up an expert advisory group to help provinces develop small hydroelectric power projects.
He asked the water and power ministry to swiftly frame an investment policy to encourage the private sector to invest in small hydroelectric power projects. “We must promote private sector in the energy sector,” he said.
He directed the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) to develop key performance indicators to achieve the target of primary education‚ as 100% literacy was critical for Pakistan’s future.
He said knowledge‚ energy and infrastructure were critical for future development.
The government has recently inaugurated several important projects, including a nuclear power plant along the Karachi coastline. It has to tackle the energy crisis and revive economic growth.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2013.
The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved 38 development projects worth Rs244.5 billion in a meeting chaired by Minister for Planning‚ Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal.
The approved projects were from energy‚ water resources‚ education‚ governance‚ science and technology‚ social welfare and agriculture sectors. Multiple feasibility studies to improve rail and transport links along the proposed economic corridor with China were also approved.
The meeting cleared a feasibility study for rail tracks connecting Gwadar to Karachi through a 700km track‚ and one from Gwadar to Basima and then from Basima to Jacobabad via Khuzdar spread over 1,048 km.
Another feasibility study for new rail tracks from Havelian to the Pakistan-China border was also approved. The feasibility study for the Karachi-Lahore 1,160km motorway and the Muzaffarabad-Mirpur-Mangla N-5 expressway was also approved.
A project costing Rs400 million to upgrade Larkana Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy (LINAR) was approved. The revised Kachhi Canal project costing Rs57 billion, which will irrigate 100‚000 acres of land in Dera Bugti, and Dubair Khawar Hydropower Project costing Rs27 billion were also approved.
The planning minister directed the Ministry of Water and Power and the Water and Power Development Authority chairman to set up an expert advisory group to help provinces develop small hydroelectric power projects.
He asked the water and power ministry to swiftly frame an investment policy to encourage the private sector to invest in small hydroelectric power projects. “We must promote private sector in the energy sector,” he said.
He directed the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) to develop key performance indicators to achieve the target of primary education‚ as 100% literacy was critical for Pakistan’s future.
He said knowledge‚ energy and infrastructure were critical for future development.
The government has recently inaugurated several important projects, including a nuclear power plant along the Karachi coastline. It has to tackle the energy crisis and revive economic growth.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2013.