The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) cleared five major development projects totaling Rs 55.164 billion, approving two ventures worth Rs 7.725 billion and recommending three larger schemes costing Rs 47.439 billion to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for final approval. Chaired by Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, the meeting focused on critical initiatives spanning environment, health, agriculture, and infrastructure, with significant implications for national resilience and provincial development.
Among the approved projects, the CDWP sanctioned Rs 5.73 billion for the installation of a Weather Surveillance Radar in Sukkur, enhancing Pakistan’s climate monitoring capabilities. Separately, Rs1.999 billion was approved for “Special Development Initiatives” targeting backward districts, specifically Kashmore in Sindh, with Minister Iqbal forming a committee to oversee scope, cost, and construction quality. The highest-value project advanced was the Rs 25.458 billion expansion of the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology and National Institute of Heart Diseases (AFIC-NIHD) in Rawalpindi, granted in-principle approval for ECNEC review. This health mega-project aims to double indoor bed capacity to 800, add 10 modern operation theatres, expand diagnostic and outpatient services, and upgrade facilities to meet international standards over the next 20 years. Given fiscal constraints, Iqbal directed a committee to rationalize costs and explore alternative financing beyond PSDP funds.
The CDWP also recommended two transformative Balochistan projects to ECNEC: a Rs12.462 billion World Bank-funded “Balochistan Livelihoods and Entrepreneurship Project” to create jobs and sustainable enterprises across eight underdeveloped districts (Chagai, Qilla Abdullah, Killa Saifullah, Mastung, Nushki, Pishin, Sherani, and Zhob), and a Rs9.52 billion initiative to construct a new Balochistan Assembly building in Quetta. The proposed assembly complex, spanning 250,000 square feet, will replace the outdated structure and feature modern legislative facilities, ministerial offices, and enhanced infrastructure. Iqbal mandated a committee to refine this project’s scope and cost, insisting on top-tier consultants for design and supervision, noting the new assembly would be “a gift from the federal government to the people of Balochistan” with funding approved by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
