Rashakai SEZ

CPEC: Pakistan govt approves Rs 16 billion for 4 SEZs

ISLAMABAD, July 17 (Gwadar Pro) The Pakistani government has approved the Principal Component 1 (PC-1) worth more than Rs 16 billion for provision of gas and electricity to four Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Senate was informed on Friday afternoon.

The Senate – the Upper House of the parliament – was told that nine SEZs had been identified under the CPEC cooperation of industrial development.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that out of nine CPEC SEZs, four SEZs were at the advanced stage of development including Rashakai SEZ, Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Faisalabad, Bostan SEZ and Dhabeji SEZ.

He said that other SEZs were including Model ICT SEZ, Islamabad, Pak Steel Mills SEZ, Karachi, Moqpandas SEZ Gilgit Baltistan, Mirpur SEZ, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Mohmand Marble City, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that the government has approved PC-1 worth over Rs16 billion for the provision of gas and electricity to the above four SEZs, which are in an advanced stage of development.

He said that Rashakai SEZ is being set up at 1000 acres of land and 10 Megawatt (MW) of electricity was provided last October as a short-term arrangement and 50MW to be provided by June 2022, adding that the gasification of the zone will be completed by December 2021. The minister said that Rashakai SEZ is a game-changer for the Peshawar valley.

In a written reply, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said that Allama Iqbal Industrial City, Faisalabad being established at 2,800 acres of land and so far, 585 acres of land has been allotted to 24 enterprises with a planned investment of Rs 136.7 billion, including foreign direct investment (FDI) of $ 5.21 million.

While Dhabeji SEZ is underway and work is in progress for the provision of 13.5 MMCFD gas, 5 MW electricity will be provided by December 2021 as a temporary connection. For Bostan SEZ (200 acres) 5 MW of electricity will be provided by December 2021 as temporary connection.

An amount of Rs. 731 million approved by the Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) on first February 2021 and has been allocated in Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2021-22 for gasification of the zone and it will be completed in 18 months’ time from the release of funds to SSGCL.

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