ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Friday cleared 11 development projects, mostly in Punjab, at an estimated cost of Rs101.053 billion.

Presided over by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, the meeting of the CDWP referred four projects worth Rs91bn to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) for formal approval and cleared seven schemes worth Rs10.053bn. The projects belonged to higher education, information technology, housing and physical planning, transport and communications and tourism.

Of the total Rs101.053bn, about Rs78bn worth of projects approved by the CDWP would be executed in Punjab.

In the higher education sector, the meeting approved two projects worth about Rs5bn. These included “Development of the National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS), Rawalpindi” for Rs3.387bn, and “Establishment of Sukkur IBA University Campus at Mirpurkhas” for Rs1.699bn.

The CDWP also approved a project related to information technology, “Gwadar Safe City Project”, for Rs4.967bn. The project will be financed through the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis by the federal and provincial governments.

A project related to Physical Planning and Housing, “Sewerage System from Larechs Colony to Gulshan-e-Ravi, Lahore (Through Trenchless Technology),” worth Rs49.27bn, was referred to Ecnec for formal approval. The project is proposed to be financed through foreign funding of about $160 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for execution by Waste and Sanitation Agency Lahore.

The CDWP also referred to Ecnec for approval of another project of the Punjab government for the tourism sector. With a $40 million loan from the World Bank, “Punjab Tourism for Economic Growth Project (PTEGP)” for Rs12.47bn seeks to boost tourism.

Another project cleared for Ecnec approval in Punjab included “Construction of Dualisation of Sialkot-Eminabad Road up to Kamoki including a link to Motorway of 65 kilometres in District Sialkot for Rs12.973bn. Federal and Punjab governments will finance the project on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis.

Another project of transport and communication sector for Balochistan “Rehabilitation & Upgradation of Jhaljao – Bela Road (79.89 km)” worth Rs16.22bn was also referred to Ecnec for approval. The revised project envisages rehabilitation and upgradation of two-lane existing 80-km road to 6.1-metre wide carriageway and three-metre wide shoulders on either side. The project road starts from Jhaljao and terminates at Bela, District Awaran, after traversing through the towns of Augani, Sipai Sing, and Chauki and finally terminates at Bela.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025