The Finance Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, chaired the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) here today at the Prime Minister’s Office.
ECNEC considered and approved the project for construction / installation of “220 KV Mirpur Khas Substation along with Associated Transmission Lines (PC-1)” at a rationalized total cost of Rs. 3,857.10 million including FEC of Rs. 1,854.69 million. The project will complete in 2 years’ time, and will enable meeting the growing power demand of areas including MirpurKhas, Mir Wah Gorchani, Sultanabad, Kandiari, Sanghar, Shah PurChakar, Jam Nawaz, Tando Jam, Samaro and T.A. Yar under the jurisdiction of HESCO. It will lead to improved voltage reliability, system reliability of network, reduction in the loading of power transformers, and the overall efficiency and stability of the power system in Sindh Province. The project will be financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The project of “500 kV HVAC Transmission Lines for Interconnection of HVDC with HVAC System at Matiari and Lahore” also obtained approval of ECNEC. The project was approved at a total rationalized cost of Rs. 4,805.70 million including FEC of Rs. 2,620.72 million. The project, which will be implemented in 2 years, will result in interconnection of HVDC with HVAC system for facilitating the dispersal of power from the proposed 4,000 MW power plants in the southern part of the country.
ECNEC also considered and approved the project of “220 KV Dera Ismail Khan – Zhob Double Circuit Transmission Line along with 220 KV Zhob Substation” at a rationalized cost of Rs. 6,878.41 million, including FEC of Rs. 3,094.01 million, to be financed through ADB. The project will be completed by June 2018. It envisages installation of new 220 kV Substation at Zhob along with 220 kV Dera Ismail Khan – Zhob transmission line in order to reduce transmission losses and meet the growing power requirements of Qilla Saifullah, G.H. Zai, MusafirPur, Zhob, Mekhtar and Duki under the jurisdiction of QESCO.
The project for “Evacuation of Power from 1320 MW Imported Coal Based Power Plant at Hub” was approved at an updated total cost of Rs. 16,414.92 million including FEC of Rs. 7,875.70 million, subject to the condition that implementation of the project will be starting after achieving financial close of 1,320 MW power plant at Hub. The project entails laying of 220 km, 500 kV double circuit transmission line from Hub Power Plant to 500 kV Matiari switching station, and extension at the switching station with two line bays with shunt reactors. The project will be financed through International Financial Institutions.
ECNEC also considered and approved recommendations regarding the “Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Project in Second and Fifth Circles and New
Customer Information and Billing System for the Entire Company in LESCO” and the “Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Project in Rawalpindi circle, Taxila Division, B-1 & B11 Customers of Entire Company and New Modern Billing System for the Entire Company in IESCO”. These projects have already been approved by ECNEC in July 2016. In its meeting today, ECNEC approved the flexible use of technology in these projects depending upon the suitability of the distribution network of the respective DISCOs.
The Chair said that these projects demonstrate that, in addition to increasing the generation capacity of the power sector in Pakistan, the government is also seriously committed to strengthening the transmission and distributions network of the sector in the country.
For the Health sector, ECNEC considered and approved the “Expanded Program on Immunization Punjab (EPI)” which aim at prevention of 9 vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs). The immunization / vaccination services are being delivered through fixed and outreach centres for routine immunization as well as mobile vaccinators for house immunization and special campaigns. The program has been approved at a total cost of Rs. 22,262.63 million including FEC of Rs. 3,815.96 million. The program will support immunization of children and pregnant mothers to reduce IMR and MMR, as envisaged in Vision 2025 and 11th Five Year Plan, and will improve the health status of children in Punjab.
In the Transport and Communication sector, ECNEC approved the projects titled “Land Acquisition, Affected Properties Compensation and Relocation of Utilities for Construction of Burhan / Hakla to D.I. Khan Motorway”. The project envisages acquisition of 7,496 acres of land (59,969 kanals) for construction of 285 km 4-lanes expressway with a 100m wide Right of Way (RoW), as part of the western route of CPEC. ECNEC had already approved the project, in principle, at the rationalized scope and cost of Rs. 11,973 million without FEC (foreign exchange component), subject to verification of the proposed route of the project from the Joint Declaration announced at the eve of the All Parties Conference held on 28 May, 2015. The project for “Construction of Motorway from Burhan / Hakla on M-1 to D.I. Khan” was also approved by ECNEC. This project had already been approved by ECNEC, in principle, at the rationalized scope and cost of Rs. 110,208 million subject to the aforementioned condition of verification of the proposed route of the project. In its meeting held today, ECNEC granted final approval to both the projects after ECNEC was informed that the condition of verification of proposed route has been met after consultation between the Federal Committee on CPEC and KPK Committee on CPEC.
ECNEC also considered and approved the project for “Land Acquisition, Affected Properties Compensation and Relocation of Utilities for Construction of 6 – Land Highway from Kala Shah Kaku to Lahore Ring Road (18.3 km) including Bridge over River Ravi (Lahore Eastern Bypass)” at a total rationalized cost of Rs. 10,486.45 million with no FEC. The project envisages acquisition of 952 acres of land (7,617 kanals) for construction of 18.3 km long 6 lane dual carriageway with 100m RoW from Kala Shah Kaku interchange to Lahore Ring Road at 500m ahead of Mehmood Booti Junction including construction of a new bridge over River Ravi and other allied structures.
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