ISLAMABAD: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, approved the proposal of Ministry of Railways for procurement/manufacturing of 585 wagons and 20 bogie brake vans for coal transportation (phase-II) at a total cost of Rs5,861 million.
The project would enable Pak Railways to meet the demand for transportation of 6 million tons of coal from Karachi port to up country for coal fired power plants.
The finance minister stated that frequent meetings of the Committee had been held to ensure that there was no delay in the processing of projects of national importance. He appreciated the keen interest of the members in pushing forward the development agenda of the government.
The Ecnec was informed that the Safe City Project of Ministry of Interior was previously approved without any provision for the duties and taxes, on the assumption that the same would be waived off by FBR. The tax exemption was however, not granted by FBR as the government is pursuing the policy of discouraging tax exemptions. The sponsoring Ministry therefore revised the project to include provision for taxes and duties. It was emphasized that there was no cost increase in any of the physical project component. The meeting after detailed discussion accorded approval for revised cost of Rs. 15.865 billion including Rs.4 billion for payment of taxes and duty to FBR.
