Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf government expeditiously progressed on work on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and Special Economic Zones in just two years of its government.
According to the Two Years Performance Report unveiled by the government on Tuesday, a number of new initiatives were made by the ministry of planning, development and special initiatives.
Significant progress was made under the industrial cooperation in 2019-20 as the year witnessed the ground breaking of Allama Iqbal Industrial Zone.
Also, the Development Agreement of Rashakai SEZ was approved in the current year. Furthermore ground breaking is also being planned for the Rashakai in the first quarter of 2020-21.
The Request for Proposals (RFP) was floated for Dhabeji SEZ and will be finalized by August 2020. In 2020-21 for the three prioritized SEZs under CPEC, zone infrastructure will be developed phase wise, and necessary utilities will be provided under Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
Simultaneously, the zones will be launched for industrial colonization and relocation of enterprises from China and beyond.
Under the Agriculture Cooperation, a comprehensive National Action Plan for Agriculture Modernization will be prepared in 2020-21.
The Plan includes areas of cooperation like, locust handling, germ plasma resource exchange, exchange of agriculture experts, pest and disease control satellite station, fisheries, aqua culture and shrimp farming, post-harvest food processing technologies.
Similarly, work on Diamir Bhasha dam has also been started and the project will be completed by June, 2028.
The scope of the project consists of 270-meter-high roller compacted concrete dam, 6.4 MAF live storage and energy of 4500 MW.
The project would provide 14000 employment opportunities during construction, 2.5 million after construction direct and indirect employment and 18097 GWH energy. The Mohmand Dam project would provide hydro power, irrigation, flood control and drinking water supply.
The project was approved at a cost of Rs.309.6 billion by Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) in April, 2018 and the project commenced from July, 2019.
The project is likely to complete by March, 2025. On completion the project will provide 800 MW hydro power, irrigate 16737 acres, flood control and 470 cusec drinking water supply to Peshawar, 6000 jobs during construction and 1000 jobs after completion.
The ministry of planning also initiated the Kacchi Canal Phae-II project. Phase-I of Kachi Kanal has already been completed at a cost of Rs 80 billion. The Kanal will provide irrigation water to 7200 acres’ fertile land which will increase the cropping intensity from existing 4% to 80%.
Work on Phase-II of Kachi Kanal has also been initiated. The phase-II after completion will irrigate 216000 acres of land The project has the capacity to turn the large tracks of land in Baluchistan a food basket for not only for the people of this province but also for rest of the country.
The ministry also initiated work on the M-8 motorway which is an east-west motorway connecting Sukkur- Larkana to Gwadar. The M8 will cross the Dasht River and pass near the Mirani Dam in Baluchistan Province. The M8 will have 4-lanes and a total length of 892 km. M8 motorway is part of CPEC central Route.
