Shoaib Ansari 
img 0653
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the Pakistan Railways to upgrade and install Mainline-1.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the meeting of the Ecnec at the Cabinet Division. The project of Pakistan Railways for upgradation of Pakistan Railways existing Mainline-1 (ML-1) and establishment of dry port near Havelian was also approved by Ecnec at the rationalized cost of $6.806 billion on a cost sharing basis between the governments of China and Pakistan.
“The execution of the project shall be in three packages and in order to avoid commitment charges, the loan amount for each package will be separately contracted. Under this project existing 2,655 kilometers track will be upgraded. The speed of passenger trains shall increase from 65/110 KM/h to 165 KM/h and line capacity will increase from 34 to 137/171 trains each way per day,” said the press release issued by the government. The Ministry of Railways would constitute a project steering committee for effective supervision and implementation of the project.
In addition. Ecnec also approved the change in cost sharing ratios of the Asian Development Bank and its co-financing partners for “Construction of BRT Red Line Project, Karachi” at the total cost of Rs78.384bn including FEC of Rs66.37bn (with cattle based biomethane as fuel technology).
The project was already approved by the Ecncec on August 29, 2019.
Meanwhile, the Ecnec also approved the Pakistan Single Window project which will sponsored by the Federal Board of Revenue with a total cost of Rs11.074bn including Rs9.020bn as FEC.
The project is expected to be completed by June 2023 and will help enhance the country’s global ranking in cross-border trade-related indicators. It will also serve as the integration point bridging cargo/logistics systems and other trade-related processes.
The project will provide an automated single-entry centralized hub for submission and processing of 90 percent of the licenses, permits, certificates and other documents (LPCOs) for external trade.
