CDWP refers four mega projects worth Rs237bn to ECNEC 

ISLAMABAD: The meeting of the Central Development Working Party (CDWP), held under the chairmanship of Planning, Development & Reform Minister and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, approved four projects worth Rs6.552 billion and recommended another four projects worth Rs237.178 billion to the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) for consideration.

Planning Secretary Zafar Hasan and other senior officials from the federal and provincial governments were also present on the occasion.

Projects regarding energy, information technology, manpower, governance and education were presented in the meeting.

Sindh’s Planning and Development Department and the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs Division presented a project titled ‘Sindh Secondary Education Improvement Project’ worth Rs11.53 billion. The purpose of this project is to construct 160 secondary school blocks in ten districts of southern Sindh including Sujawal, Tharparker, Umerkot, Thatta, Badin, Sanghar, Tando M Khan, Matiari, Mirpurkhas and Tando Allahyar. The CDWP recommended the project to ECNEC for consideration.

The second project related to the education sector was presented by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, The project titled ‘Improving Human Development Indicators in Pakistan with focus on Sustainable Development Goals’ worth Rs2.99 billion. The project was also approved by CDWP.

Two projects related to the energy sector were presented in the meeting. The first project titled ‘1,230MW Combined Cycle Power Plant at Haveli Bahadur Shah, Jhang’ worth Rs97.2 billion and the second project titled ‘1,230MW Combined Cycle Power Plant at Balloki, Kasur’ worth Rs94.03 billion were presented. Both projects were forwarded to ECNEC for further approval.

A project related to manpower titled ‘Youth Education, Employment, Empowerment Project Sindh’ worth Rs1.01 billion was approved by CDWP.

Two projects related to governance were presented before the meeting. The first project titled ‘Competitive and Liveable City of Karachi’ worth Rs33.6 billion aims to address the structure development needs of Karachi and improve competitiveness and livability of the city. The project was referred to ECNEC for further approval.

The second project titled ‘China Pakistan Economic Corridor Support Project’ worth Rs2.61 billion was presented by the Ministry of Planning Development and Reform. The project aims to establish separate coordination and research wings for CPEC projects.

A project related to IT titled ‘High Impact Skills Boot Camp’ worth Rs338.522 million was also approved by the CDWP.