Engineering Post Report
Foundation stone for an IT Park in Karachi has been laid at its site near the Karachi Airport. It is estimated to cost Rs 42 billion and scheduled to be completed by June 2026 if all goes well and it does not suffer from time and cost escalation in any manner.
A loan agreement has already been signed between the Economic Affairs Division of Pakistan and EXIM Bank of Korea work US$ 158 million for the establishment of largest IT Park in Karachi. The total cost of the project is estimated to US $ 186 million. Expenditure more than the loan on the project implementation will be met through funding under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of the Federal Government.
Establishment of IT Park at Karachi was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in June 2021 for execution at cost of Rs 31199.000 million including foreign aid of Rs 26479 .000 million.. Against this, an expenditure of Rs 16.916 million was reported to have been incurred on it up to June 2022. For its continued implementation in a phased manner an allocation of Rs 200.000 million including foreign aid of Rs 80.000 million under PSDP for ongoing financial year.
The IT Park building would have 14 floors , both on the ground and underground, with a gross floor area of 106449 meters Park with latest state of the art facilities to ensure that IT companies can operate round the clock throughout the week for providing services to their clients around the globe.. In addition to office space, the park would also have software testing laboratories, business incubation centres, technology commercialization centres , exhibition halls, auditorium, day care centre and other ancillary facilities.
According to the Information Technology & Telecommunication Division sources, the IT Park on completion would create employment opportunities for large number of 20000 IT professionals. IT Park in Karachi, largest of its kind in Pakistan, will not only benefit the people of Karachi but also the IT professionals of Sindh province and the rest of the country including approximately more than 225 startups.
