The 48-MW Shounter Hydropower Project in the Neelam Valley was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Wednesday.
The 48-MW Shounter Hydropower Project in the Neelam Valley was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Wednesday.
Senator Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Federal Secretaries, and other senior officers from federal ministries and provincial departments attended the meeting, which was presided over by the Finance Minister. The Federal Minister for Planning, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, and Federal Secretaries also attended.
A proposal from the AJK government for the establishment of the Shounter Hydropower Project, with an updated cost of Rs. 14,985 million and a FEC of Rs. 12,736.90 million, was taken into consideration and approved by the ECNEC. The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) will cover 85% of the project’s costs, with AJK ADP covering the remaining 15%.
The establishment of regional grids in Gilgit-Baltistan Phase-I in the districts of Astore, Gilgit, Hunza, and Skardu in GB at a revised cost of Rs. 17,425.57 million with a FEC of Rs. 1824.02 million was another project that the ECNEC considered and approved in principle, subject to the Planning Ministry’s review of bidding, construction, and engineering estimates.
The establishment of the 26 MW Shagharthang Hydropower Project in District Skardu, to be carried out by the W&P Department at a revised cost of Rs. 18,374.44 million, including a FEC of Rs. 4461.03 million, was also discussed and approved at the meeting.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rural Accessibility Project (KP-RAP), a project of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to be carried out by the Communications and Works Department in several districts of KP, was also taken into consideration and approved by the ECNEC at a cost of Rs. 69,400 million, including foreign aid and loans of Rs. 67,200 million to be provided by the World Bank and a local component to be funded by the KP government.
The KP government will be in charge of making the loan payments. The goal of the project is to improve rural residents’ access to markets, schools, and healthcare facilities by rehabilitating the area’s 768.4 km of rural roads.