Balochistan wants rail-based projects under CPEC.

QUETTA -- Government of Balochistan requests Federal Ministry of Communication , Islamabad for inclusion of Balochistan-based-rail project in CPEC. A letter of Planning and Development Department, Government of Balochistan addressed to Secretary, Ministry of Communication , Government of Pakistan, Islamabad states, 'The 10th meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is likely to be held in the last quarter of 2020. The Government of Balochistan appreciates the progress being made with regards to CPEC projects, especially the inclusion of ML-1 project as a deliverable for the upcoming JCC meeting. "The Early Harvest Phase ofCPEChas come to an end. During this phase, not even a single infrastructure project in Balochistan was completed through financing from CPEC. Construction work on the eastern alignment of CPEC is nearly complete. In contrast, progress on the western alignment of CPEC in Balochistan is negligible. "According to the Monographic Study on Transport Planning (2015- 30)- which was conducted jointly by the Government of Pakistan and approved by the 5th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) in 2015, the nearly 750-KM long

N-50 road from Surab to Dera Ismail Khan via Quetta and Zhob was supposed to be upgraded into a four-lane highway by 2020. "Now that the focus is shifting from upgradation of roads to railways and industrial development, the Balochistan province is being ignored again. "The Pakistan Railway Mainline-I (ML-I) project was recently approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) at a cost of $ 6.806 Billion (equal to rupees 11.44 trillion) for implementation under the umbrella of CPEC...