ISLAMABAD, May 23 (DNA):Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives/Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Friday chaired a meeting of the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) that approved seven different development projects worth Rs 1.04 billion.
“Out of these, four projects with a cumulative cost of Rs 8 billion were approved at the CDWP level. Additionally, three major projects, amounting to approximately Rs96 billion, were recommended to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for final consideration and approval,” a news release said.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Planning Awais Manzur Sumra, along with the Chief Economist, other members of the Planning Commission, Federal Secretaries, heads of Provincial Planning & Development (P&D) departments, and senior representatives from relevant Federal Ministries and Provincial Governments.
The forum approved two projects related to industries and Commerce namely “1000 Industrial Stitching Units (Phase-II)” worth Rs 1950 million and “Acquisition of Land for Establishment of SME Facilitation Centers at Various Locations” worth Rs1250 million.
It okayed two projects related to Information Technology namely “Development of Pakistan Lunar Exploration Rover (PLExR) for Chang’E-8 Mission” worth Rs2535 million and “Pakistan Manned Space Mission” worth Rs2243.20 million.
The CDWP referred three projects related to Transport and Communications namely “Improvement of Road from Sanghar to National Highway N-5 at Point Rohri via Mundh Jamrao and Saleput 0.00 to 221.00 kms.” to ECNEC at revised cost of Rs36,910.449 million.
Another project of of transport and communications sector namely “Construction of Additional Carriageway along Mehran Highway from Nawabshah to Ranipur (135.0 Kms (Revised)” was forwarded to ECNEC at revised cost of Rs41034.440 million.
The forum referred another project of transport and communication namely “Improvement of Road from Rohri to Guddu Barrage @ M-5 Interchange Sadiqabad via Khanpur Mahar, Mirpur Mathelo & Mureed Shakh (150.00 Kms)” to ECNEC at revised cost of 17,971.360 million.
During a comprehensive review of Transport and Communications sector projects, Ahsan Iqbal directed the Member Infrastructure to review construction schedule rates of Federal & Provincial governments and notifying new schedule of rates based on market rates.
The Deputy Chairman underscored the importance of this analysis for ensuring cost-efficiency and fiscal responsibility in infrastructure development.
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