Govt plans tax, duty amnesty to attract investment in Gwadar

QUETTA: The Balochistan government has planned to introduce tax and duty amnesty scheme for national and foreign investors to attract investment in the port town of Gwadar.

Provincial Minister for Planning and Development Dr Hamid Khan Achakzai said this while addressing a press conference along with P&D Additional Chief Secretary Nasibullah Bazai here on Tuesday.He said work on several uplift projects pertaining to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Balochistan was under way.

Work on the Zhob-Mughal Kot (N-50) and Qila Saifullah Road (N-70) Gwadar-Hoshab and Hoshab-Sorab (N-85) was under way, he said adding that these projects would be completed by 2018. Achakzai said work had been started on Rs14.06 billion project of East Bay Express from Gwadar to Karachi along the coast, adding that Rs4.7 billion were allocated in the PSDP 2015-16.

He said that Rs0.138 billion were allocated for road projects including Gwadar-Karachi, Gwadar-Basima and Basima-Jacobabad-Khuzdar adding that Rs1.01 billion were being released in this regard.

The provincial government had achieved 95 per cent target in implementation of 2,250 uplift schemes of the Provincial Public Sector Development Program 2015-16 and 140 development projects of the Federal PSDP 2015-16 and said that departmental action would be taken against officials if the PSDP funds lapsed, he added.

Achakzai said Rs54.5 billion Provincial PSDP 2015-16 had 2,250 schemes, including 940 ongoing and 1,310 new ones. He said Rs19.5 billion were allocated for the ongoing schemes and Rs31.57 billion for new projects.

About 95pc of funds for the ongoing schemes had been released within seven months, he said adding that 97pc PC-1 of new uplift schemes had been approved and 95pc of funds allocated for them had been authorised, he said.

The additional chief secretary said 98pc progress in implementation of the Federal PSDP projects had been achieved. He said Rs440 million was allocated for 88 schemes of Millennium Development Goals.