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ISLAMABAD:
Amid the opposition’s call for transparency in the finalisation of mega projects with China, the government on Monday unveiled a list of 36 projects worth $39.6 billion that it wants Beijing to finance in return of giving it access to Gwadar port.
It was for the first time that the federal government shared the details of the much-hyped China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with a parliamentary panel. The details were submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning and Development.
The cost that the government has revealed is approximately $6 billion higher than what it initially announced. Out of 37 projects, as many as 22 schemes are about the power sector having a total estimated cost of $27.3 billion, according to the government’s working paper.
There is a tentative agreement with China on these projects but the component of Chinese financing has yet to be finalised, said Planning Secretary Hasan Nawaz Tarar while briefing the standing committee. He maintained that the list of the projects was subject to any deletion or addition.
Tarar said China was focusing on Gwadar port and on their request Pakistan has constituted a fourth Joint Working Group on Gwadar. “Both China and Pakistan have their own interests. China has an interest in Gwadar port while Pakistan’s interest is to economically develop the corridor,” he added.
The projects are finalised at the level of Joint Cooperation Committee – the body that has ministerial level representation of both countries. Tarar said the third JCC meeting will be held in Beijing next month, in which all these projects will be reviewed.
He clarified that the finalisation of the list does not mean that all the projects will be implemented as the final decision rests with Chinese authorities who are currently evaluating these projects.
“The road and infrastructure projects will be implemented under government-to-government arrangements and China will provide concessional funding for these schemes,” he stated.
Tarar said that all power sector projects will be funded by Chinese financial institutions purely on commercial considerations and most of these will be undertaken by the private sector.
According to the committee members, in terms of costing, the projects appeared as a wish-list of the government.
“These are mega projects of significant importance and should have been shared with the parliament a year ago,” said Nafeesa Shah of Pakistan Peoples Party, a member of the standing committee. She said the speed with which the government is moving on CPEC projects was a matter of concern. Shah alleged that the projects were being finalised in a non-transparent manner.
Projects
According to the list, the government wants to build six coal-based power projects, each 660 megawatts (MW), in Gaddani at an estimated cost of $5.94 billion. Two more coal-based power plants, each 660MW, are planned to be set up at Port Qasim having an estimated cost of $2 billion. Three projects, each 330MW, are proposed to be set up at Thar Power Coal Plant with an estimated cost of $1 billion.
China Power International has been proposed to set up two power plants having total generation capacity of 1,200MW with an estimated cost of $1.8 billion. A coal mining project of $860 million at Thar Block-II is part of the list. At Thar Block-I, another coal mining project worth $1.3 billion has been planned.
The government has also included 1,100MW Kohal power project worth $2.4 billion, 720MW Karot hydropower project worth $1.42 billion, 873MW Suki Kanari hydropower project costing $1.8 billion and three wind power projects of 250 MW worth $375 million in its list.
The federal government has included nine projects of the Punjab government that promises 6,110MW power generation at an estimated cost of $6.2 billion. The Orange line Metro Train costing $1.6 billion is also included in the list. The cost of 387 kilometre Multan-Sukkur section of Karachi-Lahore Motorway has been estimated at $2.6 billion.
The cost of Karakoram Highway, Raikot to Islamabad section, has been estimated at $3.5 billion. Similarly, the cost of rehabilitation and upgradation of Karachi-Lahore-Peshawar railway track has been estimated at $3.7 billion.
The federal government has approved CPEC support project worth Rs409 million for providing secretariat support to implement the corridors projects. To streamline the process, CPEC steering committee has been set up which is headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. It provides strategic guidance for planning, monitoring and implementation of the projects.
Tarar said China has shared its outline of the long-term plan with Pakistan. After reviewing the plan and reaching to an agreement with the Chinese side, the same plan will be submitted before the next JCC meeting for approval, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd, 2014.
Going public: Govt unveils list of 36 projects to parliamentary panel – The Express Tribune
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here is some thing more
New $3 bn LNG project ready for Gwadar - thenews.com.pk
New $3 bn LNG project ready for Gwadar
ISLAMABAD: Another fast-track three billion dollars mega project, an LNG terminal at Gwadar and a pipeline to Nawabshah, is being launched by the Nawaz Sharif government with Chinese collaboration.
In a major strategic move, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources (MoPNR) has decided to build the LNG terminal and pipeline through a Government-to-Government (G2G ) arrangement with China. Experts say this would mean that the project will not be advertised for open international bidding.
“We are running from pillar to post to get this mega LNG terminal-cum-pipeline included in the list of early harvest projects agreed with China and once it is included, it will take three to four years to get commissioned,” Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told The News.
“We have already sensitised the prime minister about the proposed LNG project at Gwadar and hope to get this project in early harvest projects list.”China has promised to provide $35 billion in projects relating to the economic corridor and energy related projects and this new project will also be funded through the same scheme.
Two Chinese companies have already shown interest in building the LNG terminal at Gwadar and lay down the pipeline. The pipeline will require $1 billion and over $2 billion will be needed to construct the terminal with LNG handling and re-gasification facilities and to erect large LNG storages facilities.
“This will be the second LNG terminal as the first fast track terminal is being constructed by Engro’s ETPL (Elengy Terminal Pakistan Limited) at Port Qasim, which is scheduled to be completed by March 31, 2015 but we are hoping that the terminal will be completed by December this year,” the minister said.
Mentioning the LNG project at Gwadar, the minister said, whenever the US sanctions now imposed on Iran are lifted, this Nawabshah-Gwadar pipeline will be extended backwards from Gwadar to MP 250, a point at Pak-Iran border for the import of Iranian gas. Its capacity will be increased to one billion cubic feet of gas per day.
The Gwadar-Nawabshah pipeline will have the same specifications with diameter of 42 inches that is proposed for the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline.According to officials, since Pakistan is unable to lay down the 781-kilometre-long pipeline from the Iran border to Nawabshah because of Pakistan’s inability to arrange foreign funding, it has been decided to lay down the pipeline from Gwadar to Nawabshah under the G2G arrangement with China that will transport at least 500 mmcfd after re-gasification of imported LNG.
To a question, the official said that LNG terminal to be constructed at the Gwadar Port will have handling capacity of 690 mmcfd and in addition, large LNG storage depots at Gwadar will also be constructed from where after re-gasification, gas will be transported to Nawabshah to be injected into the national gas network.
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apart from the ones mentioned (power) the rest are not mentioned in this report
