The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) granted approval for five development schemes worth Rs15.9 billion and forwarded another five major initiatives, totalling around Rs127.1 billion, to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for final endorsement.
During an extensive meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Ahsan Iqbal, which extended for more than six hours, ten development proposals were thoroughly reviewed.
Of these, five projects—collectively valued at Rs15.9 billion—received the CDWP’s approval. The remaining five, with an estimated total cost of Rs127.1 billion, were recommended to ECNEC for conclusive assessment and sanction.
The session was attended by Awais Manzur Sumra, Secretary Planning, along with the Chief Economist, Vice Chancellor of PIDE, other Planning Commission members, Chief Economist of the Planning Commission, federal secretaries, heads of Provincial Planning and Development departments, and senior officials from concerned federal ministries and provincial administrations.
The meeting’s agenda centered on initiatives across critical sectors such as education and training, environmental management, governance, higher education, information technology, physical planning and housing, special regions (AJK & GB), and transport and communication.
The minister instructed the Planning Ministry to devise a system for publishing construction rates for highway and building projects, based on realistic cost estimates. He emphasized that sponsoring agencies must carry out rigorous scrutiny of proposals to prevent cost inflation. Furthermore, he advised the Higher Education Commission and the Government of Punjab to collaborate on laptop procurement strategies, consolidating demand for the next four years and inviting prominent laptop manufacturers to establish production facilities in Pakistan.
One approved project under the education and training sector was the “Construction of Academic Blocks of National University of Pakistan, Islamabad (New),” with an allocation of Rs1,597.428 million.
Another approved initiative under the environment sector was the “Formulation of National Urban Strategy and Guidelines to Reduce the Impact of Urban Flooding, Droughts, Climate Disasters, and National Guidelines for Spatial Planning Considering Climate Change/Disaster Risk in Pakistan (New),” with a total cost of Rs106.401 million, fully financed by UN Habitat.
