ISLAMABAD: Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday directed relevant ministries to finalise a prioritised list of the most critical power projects for the next three years.

Of this amount, Rs1.1tr had been spent up to June 30, while the throw-forward stood at Rs492.4 billion. The allocation for 2025-26 is Rs104.7bn, with an additional demand of around Rs175bn indicated during the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

While reviewing Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) projects in the power and hydel energy sectors, the minister also asked ministries to work out the minimum annual PSDP allocations required to complete these schemes within stipulated timelines.

Chairing a meeting, Mr Iqbal was briefed on the overall portfolio and financial position of major power and hydel projects. A total of 37 critical power sector schemes, with a combined approved cost of Rs1.7 trillion, were reviewed.

The minister said periodic portfolio reviews were essential to ensure scarce public resources were aligned with national priorities, cost overruns and implementation delays were identified early, and projects with the highest economic and social returns were completed without slippages.

Ministries told to finalise three-year framework, funding requirements

He asked the secretaries of the planning, finance, economic affairs, power and water resources ministries to jointly identify financial, technical and administrative bottlenecks and resolve them on a fast-track basis through coordinated action and stakeholder engagement.

A disciplined three-year rolling plan, Mr Iqbal said, would help avoid the accumulation of incomplete projects, contain fiscal pressures and translate public investment into tangible gains in energy security and economic growth.

The minister instructed the Power Division to prioritise near-completion projects, rationalise future financing and put in place a realistic three-year execution framework, along with PSDP funding requirements, to ensure timely delivery of strategically important schemes.

He also directed the division to submit a project-wise break-up of critical schemes, along with annual financing and execution plans for the next three years. Near-completion projects, he said, must be prioritised so that sunk investments could be converted into operational assets at the earliest.

“The objective is to reduce the throw-forward and complete priority projects within defined timelines,” Mr Iqbal said, noting that delays escalated costs and deferred economic benefits such as improved energy availability, industrial productivity and investor confidence.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2025