Over 7,600 MW added to national grid in last five years, NEC told

ISLAMABAD: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (NEC) has approved eight development projects worth over eighty billion rupees.

The approval was given at a meeting of the Council held in Islamabad today with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the chair.

It approved a project for upgradation and extension of NTDC’s Telecommunication and SCADA System at a cost of 11.638 billion rupees.

A 200-bed Center of Excellence for Obstetrics and Gynecology will be established in Rawalpindi at a cost of over 5.3 billion rupees.

Southern Punjab Poverty Alleviation Project, approved by the meeting, will cost about 7.566 billion rupees.

The project aims at increasing the household income, employment opportunities, vocational and enterprise training with focus on women, provision of low-cost housing and community infrastructure development for the people of Southern Punjab.

The ECNEC approved construction of Northern Bypass of Dera Ghazi Khan at a cost of 4.874 billion rupees and improvement and Widening of 153-kilometre Chitral – Boomi – Mastuj – Shandur Road at a cost of over 16.755 billion rupees.

Other projects approved by the meeting included dualization of Rawalpindi-Kahuta Road costing about thirteen billion rupees; Ziarat Mor-Kach-Harani Road and Harnai-Sanjavi Road at a cost of 8.379 billion rupees and land acquisition, affected properties compensation and relocation of utilities for KKH Phase-I CPEC, Havelian-Thakot Project at a cost of 12.606 billion rupees.

The National Economic Council was informed that 1415 billion rupees were invested in the energy sector during the last five year leading to addition of 7653 MW of electricity to the national grid.

It was informed that 3,163 MW new capacity will be added by June this year. Highest level of indigenous oil production at 100,698 barrels per day was witnessed as compared to 76,000 barrels in 2012-13.

Discussing economic gains made during the 11th Plan, it was informed that the average annual growth rate of GDP which stood at 3.0% in 2012-13 increased to around 5% with decade’s highest growth rate of 5.3% in 2016-17.

Industrial out-put growth rate increased from 2.7 to 5.6% with 9 years highest industrial growth of 5.8% in 2015-16.

The inflation rate, which stood at an average of 12%, was brought down to 5.2% during this period.

The meeting was informed that early harvest projects of CPEC project were on track with 42 projects being implemented through current year’s PSDP.

It was highlighted that large public investments were made during the plan period. The investment in road sector rose from 218 billion to 850 billion rupees. Investment in higher education sector was118 billion rupees as compared to 86 billion during 2008-13.

The meeting was informed that the total national development outlay increased from 1.042 trillion to 2.247 trillion rupees. Federal PSDP allocation increased from 425 billion to over 1.000 trillion rupees and public investment to GDP ratio increased from 3.5 to 4.3%.

The meeting was also briefed on socio-economic objectives for the next Five Year Plan along with provincial priorities which would be aligned with national level objectives.

The NEC advised the provincial governments and federal ministries and organizations concerned to align their policies and plans and allocate required resources in line with national framework.