ISLAMABAD: The Cen­tral Development Working Party (CDWP) on Thursday cleared seven development projects worth Rs115.80 billion including Rs88bn worth of a nationwide climate resilient project.

The meeting presided over by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal also formally approved an almost 700pc increase in the cost of Narowal Sports Complex, attributing cost overrun to unnecessary investigations by National Account­ability Bureau (NAB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) but without any outcome.

The CDWP cleared the National Programme Post-Flood Reconstruction: Cli­mate Resilience Enhan­ce­ment Project in Balochistan and other Provinces at an estimated cost of Rs88bn.

The federal government will obtain a loan from the World Bank and transfer it to the government of Balo­chistan as a grant-in-aid.

The meeting approved the construction of National Sports City at Narowal (revised third PC) at the cost of Rs5.761bn from its original cost of Rs733 million.

It also approved ‘Stren­g­thening of Labs in 5 leading Universities of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, Taxila, Lahore, Khuzdar and NED Karachi at an estimated cost of Rs6.64bn.

Similarly, the CDWP also approved the Innovation Centre & Innovation Park project at UET Lahore Sub campus at the cost of Rs2.966bn.

The meeting also approved the Competitive Grants Programme for Policy-Oriented Research at a cost of Rs1.756bn.

The meeting also approved the Improvement and Widening of Spera Ragha Road from Kanozai Cross to Loralai Kill Saifullah Road at an estimated cost of Rs6.14bn.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2022