For the construction of Hakla-Yarik-Dera Ismail Khan motorway of CPEC’s western route, the Public Sector Development Programme has proposed Rs13 billion for the next fiscal year against Rs25 billion for the outgoing fiscal year. The total cost of this scheme is Rs 110.2 billion. The project’s remaining financing requirement is estimated at Rs 36.6 billion.
For land acquisition for the Sukkur-Hyderabad section of CPEC, Rs3.5 billion has been proposed for the next fiscal year against the requirement of Rs21.6 billion. For land acquisition for the Islamabad-Raikot section of CPEC, Rs1 billion has been proposed against the remaining need of Rs1.9 billion.
Overall, the government has proposed to massively slash budgetary allocation for the National Highway Authority (NHA) in the next fiscal year. As against the original allocation of Rs310 billion, the NHA will get Rs 157 billion, which is in line with the PTI’s decision to move away from the brick and mortar approach.
For the Havelian-Thakot project of CPEC, the government has proposed Rs24-billion allocation against the remaining requirement of nearly Rs31 billion. The total cost of this project is Rs 106 billion.
The Zhob-Kuchlak road project, which the government approved in March, will get Rs10-billion financing in the next fiscal year. The total cost of the project is Rs 63 billion. Chitral-Bannu road will get Rs1 billion against the total cost of Rs16.8 billion. The preliminary design of Mainline-I would not be completed in the next fiscal year as the government has allocated only Rs1.8 billion for the scheme against the remaining requirement of Rs5.5 billion.
The New Gwadar International Airport has been given Rs 700-million allocation against the total need of Rs 21 billion. The East Bay Expressway will get Rs 2.7 billion against the remaining need of Rs 3.5 billion.
A project initiated to provide five million gallons of clean water per day to the Gwadar city would get only Rs 400 million against the remaining requirement of Rs2.9 billion. The total cost of the scheme is Rs3 billion and it has not get full funding in the last three years.
The Gwadar smart environment project has been given Rs 100-million allocation against the remaining requirement of Rs2.2 billion.
New schemes
The government has decided to include the Mirpur-Mangla-Muzaffarabad project in the PSDP, costing Rs142 billion. For the next fiscal year, it has proposed only Rs 100-million allocation for the unapproved scheme.
It has also decided to conduct a feasibility study for the construction of a 350 km-long Nokhandi-Mashkhel-Turbat project of CPEC. The Rs17-billion worth of Shandur-Gilgit road is also part of the new CPEC portfolio. The project remains unapproved and the government has proposed Rs 500-million allocation for the next fiscal year.
The government has proposed a Rs29.5-billion project for improving cross-border connectivity between China and Pakistan. For the next fiscal year, the government has proposed Rs2 billion for this scheme.
The fifth new scheme is Mainline-I project of Pakistan Railways. Its first phase will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 324 billion and for the next fiscal year the government has allocated Rs 1 billion
/tribune.com.pk