Central Development Working Party refers 3 KP infrastructure projects worth Rs100bn to Ecnec

Dawn · 26/10/2026، 3:47:43 PM

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Monday cleared three major infrastructure projects worth Rs100 billion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, recommending them to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) for formal approval. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) presided over by Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal. “Federal government reaffirms commitment to KP’s development,” said Iqbal, referring to CDWP’s recommendation for a Rs69.89bn irrigation project to boost agriculture and rural livelihoods in the province. Since the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in KP, the Centre has pledged to work on the province’s development and progress , besides its top priority of combatting terrorism. The CDWP meeting also cleared another 11 projects throughout the country with an estimated investment of nearly Rs126.50bn, including a mega project worth Rs85.34bn in Punjab. This brought the total number of projects cleared by CDWP to 14, with an estimated cost of Rs226.48bn. Of them, Rs40.9bn worth of 10 smaller projects were approved by the CDWP, while four other larger projects were recommended to Ecnec for formal approval. Under financial rules, CDWP can itself approve projects costing up to Rs7.5bn, while it technically clears larger projects for approval by Ecnec. The projects, including two mega water and agriculture sector projects worth around $550 million in KP and Punjab, would also unlock around $460m in foreign loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In the water resources sector, two mega climate-resilient infrastructure projects were recommended to Ecnec for approval. These included the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Resilient Irrigated Agriculture Livelihoods Development Project valued at Rs69.89bn. It would be co-financed by the ADB, which would contribute Rs56.133bn ($200m), while the KP government would provide Rs11.69bn with land acquisition. The project aims to r