By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Wednesday said that Rs200 billion would be spent on development projects in Balochistan province in the ongoing fiscal year.
Chairing a meeting to review development projects in one of the least developed provinces in the country, the minister directed the authorities to prepare a fast-track programme for development in South Balochistan areas.
The planning and development ministry will timely release funds for the projects, announced Asad Umar as he stressed upon finalizing uplift projects in Balochistan after a consultation process.
He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has the vision to provide better IT and energy facilities in Balochistan province.
“We have taken special measures for development in South Balochistan on the directives of the prime minister,” he said and announced to spend Rs200 billion for uplift projects in the province this year. The federal minister also formed two committees with one headed by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan and the other led jointly by Federal Minister for Ports Ali Zaidi and Adviser to PM for Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood.
One of the committees would devise a plan for the development of water resources, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism and energy projects while another committee would implement upon uplift projects in Gwadar area of the province.
Earlier, The Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) on Thursday reviewed the implementation status of the cabinet decisions on the energy sector. The CCoE meeting chaired by Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar discussed the decisions regarding the circular debt reporting format, competitive marketplace for electricity-development plan, capacity charges of government owned power plants, fuel cost optimization of power plants, and governance reforms in power sector.
The committee also reviewed the status of bankable feasibility study covering technical, commercial and financial aspects to connect Thar Coal Mines with suitable station on Mirpurkhas – Khokhropar section of Pakistan. Further modus operandi of both the initiatives will be discussed in the next meeting of the CCoE.
