ECNEC approves mega projects worth billions

ISLAMABAD: The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Friday approved six mega development projects in the country costing billions of rupees.

The ECNEC met under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and approved the project of the Balochistan Irrigation Department for the construction of 100 small dams in different districts at the rationalised cost of Rs7829.874 million.

The project would complete in three years and benefit Balochistan in harnessing the flood flows. It would supply about 175,500 acre feet of conserved floodwater for direct irrigation and drinking purposes and would benefit about 58,500 acres of fertile cultivable land.

The chair directed the Ministry of Planning to setup up a monitoring committee, comprising members from the Ministry of Water and Power, to make sure that the project would be completed in three years time.

The committee also approved the Southern Punjab Poverty Alleviation Project (SPPAP), IFAD-Assisted, at a total revised cost of Rs4657.957 million with foreign exchange component (FEC) of Rs4 140.397 million. The project would help improve the standard of life in four less developed districts of Punjab (Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Muzaffargarh, and Rajanpur).

International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) has helped in the financing of the project through a soft loan of $40.13 million. The project would help reduce poverty in the areas of Southern Punjab by increasing agricultural productivity, improving livelihood opportunities, and building physical infrastructure. It was expected that project would complete in 2017.

Gwadar-Nawabshah LNG Terminal and Pipeline Project (GNP) was approved at the rationalised cost of Rs203,314.08 million with Rs135,128.46 million as FEC. It should complete in two years.

The Economic Affair Division has agreed to discuss the financing arrangements for this project with EXIM Bank China. For the transport and communication sector, the Ministry of Railways was allowed procurement of 58 diesel electric locomotives (2nd revised) at the re-revised cost of Rs16,300 million with FEC of Rs11,755.435 million.

The procurement would be completed by December 2016. The proposed locos would replace 50 over-aged locomotives and would be used to haul freight and passenger services along with high capacity wagons fitted with air brakes and roller bearing.

The Golan Gol Hydropower project (106MW) revised for District Chitral Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was approved at the updated cost of Rs 29,077.173 million with FEC of Rs10,679.885 million. The project having an installed capacity of 106MW would generate an annual energy of about 436GW and would be connected with the national grid with a 198 kilometre transmission line.

The lines include 132kV transmission line from Golan Gol to Timurgarha passing over Lowari pass (145km) and 132kV single circuit line from Taimurgarh to Chakdara (53km). The ECNEC also approved project of Peshawar Electric Supply Company for the construction of 7th secondary transmission line and grid stations at the rationalised cost of Rs19,989.114 million with FEC of Rs1,920.574 million. The project would complete in five years (2016-2021) and would benefit the entire province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.