Sindh govt okays over 5000 acres land allocation for power projects

KARACHI: Sindh government on Tuesday approved provision of 5801 acres land to private firms and National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) on 30 years lease to install renewable power plants and National Grid Station under apex court guidance, ARY NEWS reported.

The cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah and attended by provincial ministers, provincial chief secretary and other officials took the decision.

The step would not only bring Rs Rs9.13 billion in the provincial exchequer but also improve power supply capacity of the province.

“10 renewable power companies and NTDC have applied for allotment of land in three districts,” the provincial Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh said seven projects would be installed in Thatta district and one each in Dadu and Jamshoro districts.

Sindh Bank:

The cabinet was also briefed from the finance department over deteriorating financial capacity of the Sindh Bank. The decision-making body of the province keeping in view the situation approved to inject two billion rupees in the bank, also merging Sindh Leasing Company into it.

The cabinet also approved a proposal under which all the provincial government departments, subordinate organizations and institutions would deposit their accounts, including salary accounts in Sindh Bank.

SHEC:

An amendment in the Sindh Higher Education Commission Employees (Recruitment) Rules 2014 was also approved, allowing to hire civil servants as well as people from academia background from open market for all posts, including the secretary/executive director.

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The universities were also directed to refrain from fresh recruitment process unless their financial issues are resolved. However, necessary recruitment could be made with prior approval from the government.

The cabinet also decided to merge provincial archives department into culture department, separating it from the information department.

SBCA Court:

The cabinet also decided to establish special courts dealing with Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) cases after it emerged that the body has expedited action against illegal construction in the province and requires speedy court orders to continue its actions.

The local government department was directed to start setting up of the court where necessary.

Institute of psychiatry:

Addressing the issue of rising mental health cases, the provincial health department presented a draft bill namely `Sir Cowasjee Jahangir Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science Act, 2019 by converting 150-year old Mental hospital, at Deh Gidoo Hyderabad. The bill after nod from the cabinet will be tabled in the Sindh Assembly for approval.

Variation in FBR, SBR tables:

The Board of Revenue presented two proposal regarding variation in the valuation Table of Urban properties in Sindh and it was decided to initially bring valuation of Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur at par with Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) valuation table dated July 23, 2019.

A survey is also planned to determine the values and a three member ministerial committee comprising provincial revenue, local government and energy ministers was constituted to review the proposal and submit their report in the next cabinet meeting.