ECNEC approves Diamer Basha Project- Power Generation Facilities (4500MW) at a total cost of Rs. 1,236.10 biln including FEC of Rs. 598.19 biln

ISLAMABAD, April 06 (SABAH): Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar chaired the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Thursday.

Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mahmood Pasha, Federal Secretaries and other senior officers from Federal Ministries and Provincial departments participated in the meeting in person while Noor Muhammad Dummar Sr. Minister P &D Balochistan, SM Ahsen Tanveer Punjab Industries Minister, Himmayatullah Khan, Adviser to the CM Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Finance attended the meeting through zoom. The ECNEC considered and approved ” Land Acquisition, Affected Properties, and Compensation for Rajanpur- Dera Ghazi Khan Section as 04-Lane Highway and Dualization& Rehabilitation of Dera Ghazi Khan- Dera Ismail Khan Section of N- 55″ project at a rationalized cost of Rs. 11,377.328 million without FEC.

The project envisages acquisition of land for up gradation/improvement/widening of 329.7 kms long and 04- Lane wide dual carriageway, starting from Rajanpur and terminating at Dera Ismail Khan Section Indus Highway, National Highway (N-55).

The ECNEC considered and approved Reconstruction of Turbat-Mand Road from Motorway (M-8) to Iranian Border (Radeeq) project at a rationalized cost of Rs. 19,571.092 million. The revised project envisages reconstruction/improvement/up gradation of 115 kms long carriageway starting from Motorway (M-8 Gwadar-Ratodero Motorway) to Kurumb (Iranian border) in Balochistan province. The project road connects Iranian border with West i.e coastal Belt of the province. The project road is a part of the Southern Balochistan Development Package (SBDP).

The ECNEC also considered and approved Construction of Panjgur-Gichak-Awaran road at the rationalized cost of Rs. 27,638.751 million without FEC. The revised project envisages construction of 228 kms long carriage way starts from Panjgur-Gichak-Awaran in southern Balochistan region. The project road is a part of the Southern Balochistan Development Package (SBDP). The ECNEC considered and approved Diamer Basha Project- Power Generation Facilities (4500MW) at a total cost of Rs. 1,236.10 billion including FEC of Rs. 598.19 billion. The main object of the project is to capitalize the economical and renewable hydropower energy benefits of 4500 MW from the power generation facilities under Diamer Basha Dam project. The project will be implemented by WAPDA. The ECNEC considered and approved Digital Economy Enhancement Project (DEEP), at modified/updated cost of Rs. 17,470.750 million, funded by the World Bank IDA loan. The project plans to ensure the improvement in digitalization efforts undertaken so far throughout Pakistan.

Ministry of IT & Telecom along with NITB, NADRA, PITB, IGNITE and Board of Investment (BoI) will execute the project. Planning Commission submitted a summary regarding Agenda for the 31st Meeting of the Steering Committee on SDG Achievement Program (SAP). The ECNEC after discussion allowed continuity of prevailing mechanism and allowed Power Division to approve SDGs schemes. The ECNEC also considered and approved a summary submitted by Planning Commission on procedure to clear pending liabilities of the closed projects.