CDWP clears five projects worth Rs140bn.

ISLAMABAD -- The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Monday cleared a total of five projects, including a major infrastructure initiative worth Rs130 billion, for development of a series of roads overwhelmingly in south Punjab.

The meeting presided over by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan formally approved three development projects with a cumulative cost of Rs9.168bn and recommended two projects worth Rs130bn to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for approval.

A project namely Strengthening the Existing Capacity of National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad worth Rs450 million was approved for effective response against Covid-19 pandemic. The revised project presented by the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) is to be financed through the support of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) Group funds through National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) under Grant Implementation Agreement.

The CDWP took up four projects related to transport and communications and approved two of them and referred another to Ecnec for approval and sent back yet another for improvement.

The meeting referred Punjab ArteA!rial Roads Improvement Programme (PARIP) worth Rs129.944bn to Ecnec for approval. The project is to be spread over Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Layyah, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Vehari, Okara, Pakpattan and Sahiwal in Punjab. The executing agency of the project is Planning and Development Board, Punjab.

About Rs14.164bn funding would be arranged by the Punjab government. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) would provide Rs64.972bn while Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) would finance the remaining part of Rs50.808bn. The project involves construction of 535 km section of a dual carriageway highway between...