The committee met with Senator Sherry Rehman in the chair here at the Parliament House on Monday and discussed timeline and funding of CPEC projects including western route as well the special economic zones (SEZs).
The committee expressed serous concern over contradictory statements of the federal government and Balochistan government regarding the western route under the CPEC.
During the briefing, Sherry Rehman expressed her sorrow over the Planning Commission and said that the information which is being given to the committee is only limited to slides. She said that many things could not step forward and are at the planning stage only.
Secretary Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform, Zafar Hasan told the committee, "We have put the project of western route on agenda in the coming Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting which would be held in Beijing on December 19." He said, "If China is not providing funding for western route then the government would provide funds through Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP)."
However, an official of the Balochistan government told the committee that China was providing funds for western route but now it has stopped funding (loan).
Sherry Rehman said that the federal and provincial governments should sit together and develop clarity on the western route.
Chairman Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) Dostain Khan Jamaldini told the committee that there is lack of facilities like drinking water and supply of electricity. However, he said that the projects for water supply and power for Gwadar city are underway.
Earlier, Minister for Planning, Development and Reform, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar told the committee, "We want to expand the base of CEPC and expedite the implementation on the projects. We have constituted two joint working groups on agriculture and socio-economic development in the CPEC."
The minister said, "Not only we set up oil city in Gwadar but we would set up petrochemical industry. We are also going to sign an agreement on industrial framework in the coming JCC meeting."
Answering a question, the minister said, "It is a unanimous decision that the CPEC is bilateral framework of Pakistan and China. However, we have invited third party for investment from all over the world to invest in the CPEC." He said that Saudi Arabia is considering investing in the CPEC which would be foreign direct investment. He said that the UAE is also showing interest for investment in this regard.
"Chinese, German or Japanese companies can invest in ML-1 project for the CPEC," he said.
According to the sources, a total of 22 projects worth around $ 28.6 billion in the CPEC portfolio are under implementation.
The CPEC has different components including energy (coal, hydel, wind, solar, LNG, and transmission), infrastructure (road, rail, aviation, and data connectivity), industrial cooperation (Gwadar Free Zone and SEZs) as well as the development of Gwadar Port and city. The CPEC projects have been divided into early harvest projects (EHP) (2017-18), short-term projects (including EHP) (2014-2020), medium-term projects (2021-2025) and long-term projects (2026-2030).
The overall portfolio of the CPEC projects is as follows: (i) energy (IPP financing mode) estimated cost $ 34.746 billion, 72%; (ii) roads (government concessional loan) estimated cost $ 4.179 billion, 9%; (iii) rail network ML-1 (GCL under discussion) estimated cost $ 8.212 billion, 17%; (iv) Gwadar Port (Grant/GCL/ Interest free loan) estimated cost $ 780.6 million, 1.9%; and (v) Fibre Optic and Gwadar City Master Plan estimated cost $ 48 million, 0.1%. The total estimated cost is $ 47.965.6 billion, 100%.