ISLAMABAD:The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday, approved 10 developmental projects amounting to Rs 51791.435 million.

The meeting of the Committee was held under the Chairmanship of the Finance Minister, Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar.

It was attended by Murtaza Jatoi, Minister for Industries and Production, Anusha Rehman Ahmed Khan, Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunications, representatives of Planning and Development of Government of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and Balochistan, Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal, MPA Balochistan, Representative of Government of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, Minister of Finance, Government of Punjab, Syed Murad Ali Shah, Advisor to Chief Minister Sindh and senior officials of federal and provincial governments.

The ECNEC which had earlier constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal, to review the Kachi Canal Project was informed that the committee had decided to visit the site to ascertain the progress tomorrow.

The field visit report would be submitted to ECNEC later.

Three projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be completed with a total funding of Rs. 7160.16 million, while the allocation for one project in Sindh is Rs.2094.747 million, with one project amounting to Rs.4795.80 million in Balochistan, while two projects amounting to Rs.10116.288 million and three Federal Projects amounting to Rs.27684.260 million were also approved by ECNEC in its meeting.

The project Reconstruction of Nawabshah-Sanghar Road was approved by ECNEC with the condition that if it would not attract funds from donors/agencies the entire cost would be borne by the Government of Sindh.

It envisages reconstruction of the existing 61 km road along with the improvement of existing culverts and bridges to improve the existing road width ranging 6-7.3m to 7.3m with 2.5m wide treaded shoulders on both sides.

The Dirgi Shabozai (N-70) to Taunsa Sharif road construction project was also approved on the condition that the Balochistan Government would allocate Rs.250 million in its current budget for 2013-2014, while the Federal Government would include its share in the budget 2014-15 for the project.

The plan had been lingering for the past four years, and would reduce the distance between Punjab and Balochistan by 90 kilometers.

Another project, titled Remedial Measures to Control Waterlogging due to Muzaffargarh and T.P. Link canals, was approved in principle and the Punjab Government was asked to arrange funding from donors.

This project would reclaim 33800 areas of land out of the command area of 967000 acres.

The deal for Upgradation of Security Infrastructure/Equipment at major ports was also approved and would be completed through funding provided by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Grant in Aid.