ISLAMABAD: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has okayed Rs 265 billion worth four development projects. The construction of Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway is also included.
Finance and Revenue Adviser Shaukat Tarin chaired the meeting of the (ECNEC). The committee approved the revised project for the construction of Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis involving Rs191.5 billion expenditures.
Ministry of Finance said the project will be executed by the National Highway Authority (NHA) and it involves the construction of 306-kms long, six-lane wide motorway between Hyderabad and Sukkur which will further reduce travel time. The NHA has received two bids from local parties in its third attempt to award the project after Chinese companies stayed away from the bidding.
In April this year, the Public Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) board had approved the provision of Rs92 billion from the budget and through toll charges to make the Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway project financially viable and attractive for private parties.
According to available details, the contractor will collect the toll from commuters for 25 years. The first year toll rate will be Rs860 per car that the contractor will be allowed to increase 7.5% annually. The PPPA has authorised the viability gap fund and transaction structure for the Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway project.
The government would also provide Rs43 billion from the budget during the construction period as capital injection and another Rs49 billion as operational viability gap fund with Rs7 billion per annum for the debt service period of seven years.
Ecnec also approved the project of Land Acquisition for Lai Expressway and Flood Channel, Rawalpindi worth Rs25 billion with directions that no expenditure will be incurred till the completion of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report and its approval from the PPPA Board.
The project will be executed by the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA). The project envisages acquisition of 750 kanals of land to provide clear ‘Right of Way’ for the construction of the Lai Nullah Expressway and flood Channel, which would constitute an integral part of the transportation network of Rawalpindi besides flood mitigation and sewage disposal.
The committee also approved the construction of Rawalpindi Ring Road (R3), the 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 the inclusion of the axel load management in the project.
The project has now been rendered to mere a bypass and it does not fit into the definition of a complete ring road project.
Ecnec decided that the Punjab government would finance the project. The RDA would execute it for the construction of a six-lane access-controlled Rawalpindi Ring Road of 38.3km in length.
A few months ago, the route of the project had tainted the image of the government after two cabinet members were found connected with a change in it that escalated the land acquisition cost by Rs10 billion.
ECNEC also approved the revised Southern Punjab Poverty Alleviation Project (SPPAP) worth Rs25.2 billion and the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), Punjab government and beneficiaries will assist the funding of project spread over 10 districts of Punjab.
