The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has approved over Rs93.28 billion projects for infrastructure development, agriculture, and poverty alleviation.

The Ecnec meeting presided over by Adviser on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin considered and approved revised project for Construction of Hyderabad–Sukkur Motorway on Built Operate Transfer (BOT) basis with cost of Rs191.471 billion.

The project to be executed by the National Highways Authority (NHA) and envisages construction of 306 km long, 6–lane wide, divided fenced between Hyderabad and Sukkur.

The ECNEC also approved the project of Land Acquisition for Lai Expressway and Flood Channel, Rawalpindi worth Rs24.960 billion with directions that no expenditure will be incurred till completion of the EIA report and approval of the project from the PPP Board. The project will be executed by the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA).

The project envisages acquisition of 750 kanals of land to provide clear Right of Way for construction of the Lai Nullah Expressway and flood channel project, which would constitute an integral part of the transportation network of Rawalpindi besides flood mitigation and sewage disposal.

The meeting also approved a project on Construction of Rawalpindi Ring Road – R3, main carriageway from Baanth (N-5) to Thallian (M-2) amounting to Rs23.606 billion with condition to acquire the concurrence of Planning Commission and inclusion of axel load management in the project. Provincial ADP will finance the project and the RDA will execute the project for the construction of 6-lane access-controlled Rawalpindi Ring Road 38.3 km in length.

The Southern Punjab Poverty Alleviation Project (SPPAP) worth Rs25.243 billion was also approved by the ECNEC.

The meeting was told that contributions from International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), government of Punjab and beneficiaries will assist the funding of project spread over 10 districts of Punjab.

The ECNEC discussed in detail and deferred Greater Thal Canal Project (Phase-II) with observations to discuss in the next meeting after considering the technical aspect of the project, inclusion of comments of Sindh province in the report of the CDWP and addressing the reservations of all the stakeholders.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtyar, Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, Minister for Irrigation Department Punjab Muhammad Mohsin Leghari, federal secretaries, and other senior officers from federal as well as provincial governments.

This story was first published in Business Recorder on Dec 23, 2021.