Central Development Working Party (CDWP) meeting on Monday, under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reform Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar accorded approval to a project worth Rs. 552.708 million and recommended 03 projects worth Rs. 209.5 billion to ECNEC. Secretary Planning Zafar Hasan, senior officials from federal and provincial governments were also present in the meeting. Projects related to energy, transport and communication sectors were presented in the meeting. Three projects related to energy were presented. The first energy project ‘500 KV HVDC Transmission System between Tajikistan and Pakistan for Central Asia-South Asia Transmission Interconnection (CASA-1000)’ worth Rs. 45989.084 Million was presented by Power Division which was recommended to ECNEC for consideration. The project envisions transmission of electricity from Tajikistan to Pakistan through Afghanistan. Energy & Power Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa presented second energy project ‘Preparation Advance facility for proposed World Bank assisted Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Hydropower Development Project (PC-II)’ worth Rs. 552.708 million which was approved by CDWP. The main objective of the project is to accelerate hydropower development in KP. The World Bank assistance is being sought to accelerate development of hydropower projects in the province. The third energy project ‘Balakot Hydropower Project’ worth Rs. 85912.926 million was presented by Energy & Power Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which was recommended to ECNEC for consideration. The project envisions construction of 310 MW Balakot hydropower project on Kunhar river, a major tributary of Jhelum river. The energy generated will provide more reliable and consistent power to local area and the national grid. In the transport and communication sector, Government of Sindh presented ‘Construction of BRT Red Line Project’ worth Rs. 77598 million which was also referred to ECNEC for consideration. The project envisages construction of metro bus dedicated corridors measuring 29.1 km in length, from Numaish to Malir Halt depot and common corridor of 2.4 km. The project shall contribute to develop a sustainable urban bus transport system in Karachi with less travel time and enhanced mobility and accessibility. Estimated passengers per day would be 320000. Concept Clearance proposal of FBR’s project ‘Domestic Resource Mobilization’ worth US $ 400 million was also given approval by CDWP. Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Planning said that the incumbent Government has the political will and is committed to enhance tax revenue collection by mobilizing internal resources. He expressed optimism that FBR will bring the best policy under the proposal for increasing tax revenue collection. Government of Sindh presented concept clearance proposal of ‘Karachi Urban Mobility Project (Yellow Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)’ worth Rs. 65968 which was also approved by CDWP.
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