ISLAMABAD(National Times)- The government on Friday announced a Rs3.675 trillion development budget for the next fiscal year, with hardly any new uplift projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the Public Sector Develop\u00adment Programme (PSDP) contains a list of long-overdue mega-projects, which provinces had been insisting should be financed by the Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC-II) is perhaps the only new initiative listed, for which Rs1 billion was allocated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The outlay comprises the PSDP at Rs1 trillion, the Provincial Annual Development Programmes (ADPs) at Rs2.224 trillion, and reported development spending by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) at Rs451 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his budget speech, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that more than 60pc of the Centre\u2019s priorities were focused on key sections including transport, energy, IT, science, agriculture, health, and education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than Rs365 billion has been allocated for transport infrastructure improvement, which includes key projects such as the N-25 highway connecting Karachi and Balochistan (Rs100bn), M-6 Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (Rs30bn), as well as fresh financing from Asian Development Bank for the Main Line-1 project from Karachi to Rohri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, Rs2bn has been allocated for the Thar Coal Connectivity Project, and Rs93bn for transport projects in all provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the electricity sector, Rs116.2bn has been allocated, of which the flagship projects include the Dasu, Tarbela and Diamer-Bhasha dams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around Rs50bn has been earmarked for nine solar and wind projects, Rs8bn for renewable projects and Rs13.1bn for national grid expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The finance minister said that 8m new jobs were being created in the federal priority budget, with Rs54.6bn for sustainable urban development and housing sectors, under which 150,000 climate-resistant housing units will be built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around Rs103.1bn has been allocated to 43 water projects, which includes Rs22bn for the K-IV water supply project in Karachi and another Rs10bn for water infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Approximately Rs46bn has been allocated for higher education \u2014 including Rs34.9bn for the Pakistan Education and Research Network facilities, promoting digital learning and AI among Pakistani youth; and Rs3.6bn for science and technology, including universities, promoting SMEs in manufacturing, agriculture, electronics, and other sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For AJK, GB and the newly-merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, around Rs144.9bn has been allocated, which includes Rs45bn for AJK, Rs44bn for GB and Rs56bn for the former tribal districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, Rs5bn has been specially allocated by the prime minister for AJK and Rs4bn for Gilgit-Baltistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD(National Times)- The government on Friday announced a Rs3.675 trillion development budget for the next fiscal year, with hardly any new uplift projects. However, the Public Sector Develop\u00adment Programme (PSDP) contains a list of long-overdue mega-projects, which provinces had been insisting should be financed by the Centre. The second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n