
Development budget for next fiscal to exceed Rs1tr
According to sources, a meeting of the Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) has been convened on June 2 to finalise the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and the Annual Development Plan (ADP) for fiscal year 2025-26.
The plans will be forwarded to the National Economic Council (NEC) — to be chaired by the prime minister — for their approval this week. After the NEC approval the development schemes will be made part of the federal budget 2025-26 due to be unveiled on June 10.
The total outlay of the development budget is expected to be more than Rs1 trillion, according to the sources.
Under the proposed PSDP, they said that Rs170 billion allocation has been proposed for road construction, Rs140 billion for water projects, and Rs105 billion for the Power Division.
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Initially approved in 2020 at Rs165 billion, the project cost was revised to Rs191 billion in 2021, then to Rs308 billion in 2022. The current approval at Rs363 billion marks a 121% increase from the original cost. The project is now part of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). The Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway is the only missing north-south highway link and is a top priority for the PPP, which tied its budget support to inclusion of this project in the PSDP. The ECNEC also approved half a dozen Sindh government projects, funded by Rs86 billion from federal resources, another result of the PPP-Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) budget negotiations. Three sections of the Karachi-Quetta-Chaman "killer road", the N-25 or Balochistan Expressway, were approved at a total cost of Rs415 billion. The dualisation of the 278km stretch between Karachi and Quetta will cost Rs183.4 billion over three years, with Rs33 billion allocated for FY26. 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A road dualisation project from Sargodha to Mianwali via Khushab was approved at Rs12 billion, with the federal government covering 25% of the cost, in breach of IMF conditions. Lahore's sewerage system from Larechs Colony to Gulshan-e-Ravi was approved at Rs49.3 billion. A separate Rs12 billion project was cleared for a controlled access corridor between Niazi and Babu Sabu Interchanges, to be fully funded by Punjab. Balochistan's Water Security and Productivity Improvement Project was approved at Rs10 billion. A road from Gujranwala to the M-2 Interchange via Hafizabad was approved for Rs13.2 billion. The federal government will contribute Rs3.7 billion or 28.2%, in violation of the National Fiscal Pact. Rehabilitation and upgrading of the Jhaljao-Bela Road was approved for Rs16.2 billion. A revised Rs41 billion project under the Pakistan Raises Revenue Programme was also approved. Funded by a $400 million World Bank loan in 2019, it aims to boost revenue collection and expand the tax base but remains incomplete after six years. The road from Sanghar to the National Highway will be reconstructed for Rs37 billion, equally funded by the federal and Sindh governments. The Rohri-Guddu Barrage road upgrade, covering M-5 Interchange Sadiqabad to Khanpur Mahar, Mirpur Mathelo and Mureed Shah, was approved at Rs18 billion. The Sindh Coastal Highway project was cleared at a revised cost of Rs37.7 billion, with the federal government contributing Rs27 billion and Sindh Rs10.8 billion via its Annual Development Programme. The dualisation of Mehran Highway from Nawabshah to Ranipur (135km) was approved at a revised cost of Rs41 billion. Lastly, the reconstruction of the National Highway N-5 under the Resilient Recovery and Reconstruction Framework was approved at Rs165 billion ($588 million). 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