Planning Ministry releases Rs129B for projects under PSDP

Islamabad: Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives has released Rs129 billion for development projects under Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for the fourth quarter of this year.

According to the Ministry, the Water Resource Division and Higher Education Commission (HEC) have been given top priority.

It is worth noting that in the last quarter of (2021-22), there was a zero release for PSDP, which resulted in the government shrinking the PSDP from Rs700 billion to Rs550 billion.

According to the latest data provided by the Planning Ministry, an amount of 129 billion rupees has been released for development projects under PSDP for the fourth quarter (2022-2023), including Rs27bn for Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Ex- Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

The statement said an amount of Rs30 billion was released to the Power Division to speed up the projects like Diamer-Bhasha Dam, Mohmand Dam, Kachi Canal, Nai Gaj Dam, while Rs22 billion was released for Ministry of Communication to expedite the projects like Khuzdar-Kuchlak Road, Dualization & Improvement of Old Bannu Road.

Eight billion rupees was released for HEC to complete the projects. Similarly, an amount of Rs4 billion was released for the Ministry of Housing and Works, Rs8 billions for the Ministry of Railway, and Rs5 billion for the Power Division.

The Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has been constantly struggling to cope with the economic challenges and has taken several initiatives for the country’s development, particularly the development of Balochistan which was badly devastated in recent floods.

Since the incumbent government came into power in April last year, the Minister said: “Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government from 2013 to 2018 uplifted the economy and several mega projects including China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were introduced, but unfortunately, the experiment of bringing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rule shrank the PSDP to Rs500 billion in April 2021.

The Ministry is committed to allocating funds for development projects despite financial constraints, and the release of 129 billion rupees for PSDP will be a significant step towards achieving the country's development goals.

The Ministry aims to prioritize the Water Resources and Higher Education to ensure the smooth implementation of social development initiatives.