Ecnec approves Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway, other projects

ISLAMABAD: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) gives a go ahead to revised project of the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway project, land acquisition for Lai Expressway and Flood Channel and construction of Rawalpindi Ring Road project.

Adviser to the Prime Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin chaired the meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting considered and approved a revised project for the construction of Hyderabad–Sukkur Motorway on Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis with a cost of Rs191.5 billion.

The project to be executed by the National Highway Authority (NHA) and envisages the construction of a 306km long six-lane wide divided fence between Hyderabad and Sukkur.

The Ecnec also approved the project of land acquisition for Lai Expressway and Flood Channel, Rawalpindi worth Rs24.96 billion with the directives that no expenditure will be incurred till the completion of 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 a clear right of way for the 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 for the construction of Rawalpindi Ring Road, R3, main carriageway from Baanth (N-5) to Thallian (M-2), amounting to Rs23.6 billion with the condition to acquire the concurrence of the Planning Commission and inclusion of the axle load management in the project.

The provincial Annual Development Plan (ADP) will finance the project and the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) will execute the project for the construction of six-lane access controlled Rawalpindi Ring Road 38.3km in length.

The Ecnec approved a revised Southern Punjab Poverty Alleviation Project (SPPAP) worth Rs25.24 billion. The contributions from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), government of Punjab and the beneficiaries will assist the funding of project spread over 10 districts of Punjab.

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

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umer, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, Punjab Minister for Irrigation Department Muhammad Mohsin Leghari, federal secretaries and other senior officers from the federal, as well as provincial governments participated in the meeting.