Government Authorises Release of Rs 101.5 billion for Development Projects

ISLAMABAD, Aug 12 (APP): The federal government has so far authorised the release of Rs101.5 billion for various ongoing and new social sector uplift projects under its Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2020-21 as against the total allocation of Rs650 billion.

Under its development programme, the government has released an amount of Rs 68.48 billion for federal ministries, Rs 23.3 billion for corporations and Rs 9.4 billion for special areas, according to latest data released by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform.

Out of these allocations, the government released Rs 300 million for Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) for which the government had allocated Rs1.5 billion during the year 2020-21.

For the National Highway Authority, the government released Rs20.9 billion against its allocations of Rs118.67 billion, whereas for National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC), an amount of Rs 2.4 billion was released out of a total allocation of Rs158.3 billion.

The government also released Rs13.5 billion for the water resources division out of a total allocation of Rs 81.2 billion. An amount of Rs 5.6 billion has been authorised to release for the Higher Education Commission for which an amount of Rs 29.4 billion has been allocated. Similarly Rs 70 million were released for Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority for which the government had allocated Rs 350 million in the development budget.

Under the annual development agenda, the government also released Rs 4.7 billion for Railways Division out of a total allocation of Rs24 billion, Rs 2.9 billion for the Interior Division, and Rs 2.3 billion for National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination Division. The Revenue Division received Rs 283 million, whereas the Cabinet Division also received Rs 9.5 billion for which an amount of Rs 47.7 billion has been allocated for the year 2020-21.

Likewise, the government also released Rs 4.96 billion for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) block and other projects out of its allocations of Rs 27.24 billion and Rs 4.45 billion for Gilgit Baltistan (Block and other projects) out of a total allocation of Rs 25 billion.