Islamabad
As the 10th meeting of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting is scheduled for July 16 via video link, the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa expects to receive a dozen development projects that may change the fate of the people of the region. Most of the projects aim to raise living standards in the less developed areas of the province.
The Government of KP will present the mega projects during the JCC meeting, officials said.
The proposed projects include five transport infrastructure projects, three projects in industrial cooperation, three energy projects and two projects in the agriculture sector.
There is a tourism project as a sub-working group under Industrial Cooperation JWG, according to official documents.
Currently, work on two mega-projects under CPEC is in progress in KP. The projects are Rashakai Special Economic Zone (RSEZ) and Hakla D.I Khan Motorway (cost Rs. 122, 181 million).
Out of 13 proposed projects, if approved, four projects will be executed in the southern district of KP to uplift the once-deprived and backward parts of the province.
The proposed projects for southern KP include Special Economic Zone-Draband, D.I. Khan, which would be set up at 3,125 acres of land.
The SEZ with an estimated cost of Rs. 4.312 billion, is expected to create an estimated 512,000 jobs for the locals.
The second important project in southern KP is the 365-kilometer Peshawar D.I Khan Motorway. The motorway will connect the upper parts of KP with CPEC’s western alignment Hakla-D.I Khan Motorway (M-14) in the southern part of the province.
Chashma Right Bank lift cum gravity Canal (CRBC) is the third proposed project for southern KP.
Besides creating jobs, this agriculture project will bring 286,000 acres of arid land under irrigation.
Tank Zam Dam is a forth-proposed agriculture project in southern KP that would cultivate 70,000 acres of land.
The project would be completed with an estimated cost of Rs. 18 billion in a five-year period. For upper districts of the province, the provincial government has completed the feasibility of nine projects.
Center of Excellence for Mohmand Marble City would be developed on 350 acres of land in Mohmand tribal district.—INP
