Islamabad, February 21, 2023 (PPI-OT):The Senate Committee was briefed about Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for the financial year 2023-24. Abdul Malik, DG Planning Railways, apprised the committee that 36 projects were enlisted in PSDP 2022-23 which includes 22 Infrastructure Projects, 6 Rolling Stocks Projects, 7 Governance Projects and one project related to Business development and estimated cost of these projects were around 1261 Billion Rupees, and out of which seven projects will be completed by the June of this year. He added that the ministry has only included five new projects for PSDP 2023-24 and intends to allocate 90 p.c. of expected funds to ongoing projects and merely 10 p.c. to new projects.

Moreover, the committee was informed about the specifications of new coaches imported from China. Syed Mazhar Ali Shah, Secretary Railways, stated that the speed limit of new coaches is around 160 km/h, however, due to destitute condition of ML-1 these coaches are allowed to operate at the speed of 120 km/h.

Chairman Committee directed that the rehabilitation work of ML-1 track, which comprises of 1733 km, should be completed at earliest owing to its importance to country and also suggested that the young graduate engineers should also be made part of this project.

While discussing the regional connectivity of Pakistan to neighbouring countries. Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Deputy Chairman Senate, reiterated that Gwadar should be connected with Pakistan Railways because it will play a pivotal role in connecting Pakistan with Central Asian Countries. He also directed the ministry to brief the committee in this regard.

Furthermore, the Senate Body also taken up the matter relating to scrape material which is lying pending for auction in Railways Department. Secretary Railways informed that around 18867 metric ton scrape is pending for auction and whose estimated value is around 2358.375 Million Rupees at cost of Rs. 125 per kg without taxes.

However, a total of 3705 metric ton scrape has been sold and around 11836 metric tons has been reserved for Rail use. The Committee directed the ministry to speed up the sale auction process of pending scrape. The meeting was attended by Senator Dost Muhammad, Senator Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee, and State Minister for Law and Justice Senator Shahadat Awan, Secretary for Ministry of Railways Syed Mazhar Ali Shah, CEO Pakistan Railways Salman Sadiq Shaikh, DG Planning Railways Abdul Malik and other senior officers of relevant departments were also in attendance.

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