Allocating Rs 18 Billion in Funding for CPEC Initiatives

The government has disbursed development funds exceeding Rs 12.13 billion for diverse projects within the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for 2019-20.

According to the most recent data from the Ministry of Planning, the government had originally earmarked Rs 18 billion for approximately 20 CPEC projects during the 2019-20 fiscal year.

For the construction of KKH Phase-II, the Havelian-Thakot segment (118.057 M) as part of CPEC, the government allocated Rs 2.238 billion, of which Rs 2 billion has already been released. An additional Rs 1.8 billion has been allocated for the preliminary design of the main line (ML-1) upgrade and the establishment of a dry port near Havelian under the CPEC initiative.

A sum of Rs 1 billion has been disbursed for the improvement and widening of the Chitral-Booni-Mastuj-Shandur road, and Rs 2.8 billion has been released for the Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway from the total allocation of Rs 6.5 billion.

Furthermore, Rs 1.2 billion has been provided for land acquisition and resettlement for the CPEC Islamabad-Raikot section (Phase-I), Havelian-Thakot (120.12 km), while Rs 1.89 billion has been allocated and released for the construction of Zhob to Kuchlak, initially allocated at Rs 1.025 billion.

Moreover, Rs 320 million has been disbursed for a 5 million gallon per day sea water desalination plant at Gwadar, out of the total allocation of Rs 400 million. In addition, an amount of Rs 300 million has been released for strengthening the core network and expanding PERN footprints through CPEC optical fiber (PERNIII).

For the construction of offices for the Intelligence Bureau in conjunction with CPEC, Rs 111.2 million has been released from the total allocation of Rs 164 million. An additional Rs 600 million has been disbursed for the project to upgrade NGMS (3G/4G) services and ensure seamless coverage along the Karakoram Highway (KKH) in Gilgit Baltistan, in support of CPEC.

The government has also allocated Rs 18.19 million for the current fiscal year for the establishment of a CPEC Support Unit (CSU) to oversee projects and activities within the Gwadar Port Authority.

Similarly, for the construction of the Centre of Excellence for CPEC at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Rs 50 million has been released out of the total Rs 73.8 million allocation. An additional Rs 50 million has been disbursed for the CPEC support project at the Ministry of Railways.