Latest news with #Rs126
Express Tribune
18-07-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Funding crunch delays K-IV project
Listen to article For years, the K-IV project has been viewed as a lifeline for Karachi's residents suffering from chronic water shortages. Yet it appears that the financial and administrative hurdles plaguing the completion of the project are here to stay for another four to five years. Originally launched in 2016 under the Sindh government and Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) with an initial PC-1 cost of Rs25 billion, the K-IV project aimed to supply 260 million gallons per day (MGD) to Karachi within two years. However, due to severe mismanagement and design flaws, the project was halted in 2018 after achieving only 20 per cent progress. In 2021, the federal government transferred control of the project to the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), which redesigned it, inflating the project cost to Rs126 billion. Construction resumed in 2022, with a revised completion target of December 2025. A WAPDA official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that over 63 percent of the project has been completed, however, due to rising construction material costs, an additional Rs30 billion is required. "A revised PC-1 has been submitted to the federal government for approval, but the project has reportedly been downgraded from the government's priority list. Against the remaining Rs40 billion requirement, only Rs3.5 billion has been allocated in the current budget, causing work stoppages on two filtration plants and a major pipeline section, while other components are progressing at a sluggish pace," confirmed the official. Efforts to obtain official comments from WAPDA General Manager (South) and K-IV Project Director Aamir Mughal remained unsuccessful, as repeated attempts to contact his office yielded no response. Reportedly, the core component of the K-IV project involves laying an underground pipeline from Keenjhar Lake to Karachi's Kathore area, supervised by WAPDA. However, three additional critical projects tied to K-IV remain the Sindh government's responsibility. The first project concerns the augmentation plan. This project, financed through a 260 million US dollars World Bank loan, involves laying approximately 100 kilometers of bulk distribution pipelines within Karachi and connecting them to existing pumping stations. Similarly, the power supply project involves installing a 132-kilovolt transmission line from Jhimpir grid station to the K-IV pumping complex near Keenjhar Lake to provide 50 megawatts power, with an estimated cost of Rs16 billion. Lastly, the KB feeder canal lining project, spanning 38 miles, aims to rehabilitate and widen the canal from the Indus river to Keenjhar lake, to ensure full quota delivery. A senior KWSC official anonymously confirmed that while official schedules promised completion of these three projects within two years, actual timelines were expected to stretch much longer due to bureaucratic hurdles, utility shifting delays, and complex technical requirements. Repeated efforts to reach Sindh's Secretary Irrigation, Zareef Khero, for comments remained unanswered, while the concerned Executive Engineer cited his recent appointment as an excuse for his inability to comment at this stage. According to a survey conducted by the Express Tribune, Karachi's daily water requirement stands at 1,200 million gallons, while the city currently receives only 650 million gallons from the Indus River and Hub Dam, leaving a staggering shortfall of 550 million gallons per day. The survey also revealed that the KWSC officials, in alleged collusion with the tanker mafia and illegal groundwater extraction networks, have created an artificial water crisis in several areas, including Clifton, Defence, Gulshan-e-Iqbal (13D-2, 13D-3), North Nazimabad, Nazimabad, Liaquatabad, and PECHS. Despite the critical importance of the K-IV water project to Karachi's future water security, bureaucratic inefficiencies, lack of political will, and severe underfunding continue to jeopardize its timely completion.
Express Tribune
30-06-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Rs509b supplementary budget passed
The Punjab Assembly on Monday passed 38 demands for grant valuing over Rs509 billion in supplementary budget for 2024-25 in the absence of the opposition. The opposition protested over the removal its four members as chairpersons of standing committees. Finance Minister Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman said the supplementary budget of this year was of about Rs510 billion, adding that the government had allocated Rs266.6 billion for development. He said the government had preferred the development projects to serve the people rather than salaries. He said the government had spent Rs126 billion on the road network. The demands for grant in the supplementary budget include over Rs46 billion for the police department, Rs3 billion for irrigation, Rs16 billion for health services, Rs13 billion for public health and Rs4 billion for agriculture. The opposition's five cut motions were rejected in the absence of its members.
Hans India
23-05-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Adani Group's EBITDA rises 8% to all-time high of `89,806 cr in FY25
New Delhi: The Adani Portfolio of companies on Thursday reported a landmark fiscal result for FY25, as EBITDA scaled to an all-time high of Rs89,806 crore ($10.5 bn), up 8.2 per cent year-on-year. Excluding non-recurring prior period items, the growth stands even higher at 18 per cent (on-year). Meanwhile, profit after tax (PAT) rose to an all-time high of Rs40,565 crore. Gross assets increased to Rs609,133 lakh crore at a six-year (FY19-FY25) CAGR of over 25 per cent, as the Adani Portfolio registered record capex of Rs126,000 crore ($14.7 bn). 'A key highlight of FY25 is the continued industry-beating Return on Assets (RoA) of 16.5 per cent, which is among the highest in any infrastructure business globally, underpinning the attractive asset base and the execution capabilities of the Adani Portfolio to continuously churn out the best quality assets across sub sectors,' said Jugeshinder Robbie Singh, GCFO, Adani Group. 'Additionally, we have undertaken various initiatives related to governance and ESG, viz. Tax Transparency report released by all portfolio companies, in addition to all the other initiatives introduced over the past years, resulting in industry-best ESG scores and performance by international ESG rating agencies,' he added. Cash after tax (CAT) or Fund Flow from Operations (FFO) increased to Rs 66,527 crore ($7.8 billion), up 13.6 per cent, driven by strong operating leverage across businesses. According to the company, higher cash flows helped record asset addition of Rs1.26 lakh crore -- the highest in the history of Adani Portfolio, taking the total gross assets to Rs6.1 lakh crore ($71.2 bn).
Express Tribune
17-02-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
No end to water woes as K-IV hits another snag
KARACHI: The water crisis has been plaguing most areas of Karachi for years. The city, which is supplied 650 million gallons of water per day from two sources, the Indus River and the Hub Dam, has a daily requirement of 1200 million gallons. Yet even after the passage of nearly two decades, the shortage of 550 million gallons could not be addressed. Launched in 2016 under the supervision of the Sindh government and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC), the K-IV project set out to supply 260 million gallons per day of water to Karachi. In 2021, the federal government took over the project, handing it over to the Water and Power Development Agency (WAPDA). Under the new plan, its cost reached Rs126 billion, and construction was to be completed by December 2025. According to WAPDA's General Manager South and the Project Director of K-IV Aamir Mughal, thus far 55 per cent of the work on K-IV has been completed however, due to power supply issues and other reasons, the project's completion has been delayed to June 2026, with its cost likely to be increased by 20 per cent due to the high cost of materials," said Mughal. As per sources of the Express Tribune at WAPDA, even if this important project is completed in time, the citizens will not benefit from the additional supply of water since the three other projects associated with the K-IV are still stuck in limbo. While one project is under construction and will be completed in two years, work on the other two has not even started. The most important of these is the Augmentation Plan, which involves the construction of an underground pipeline of K-IV from Keenjhar Lake to the Kathore area of Karachi, after which a system of bulk lines for the inner city, spanning about 100 kilometres, will be established. This project will be completed in two years. The second project, the construction of a power station, involves a 132 KV transmission line that will be installed from the Jhampir Grid Station to the K-IV pumping complex near Keenjhar Lake, enabling the pumping complex to supply 50 MW of electricity. The construction work on the project will start soon and will be completed by December 2025. Likewise, the Kalri Baghar (KB) Feeder Lining Project, involves the cleaning and expansion of a 38-mile long canal that supplies water to the Keenjhar Lake. This will remove any obstructions in the flow of 260 million gallons per day from the Indus River to Keenjhar Lake. This project too will be completed in two years. Dr Syed Nawaz Al-Huda, a regional planner, was of the opinion that the Sindh government should be held accountable for the delay in the construction of the power plant, installation of bulk lines and the KB Feeder Lining Project. "Even if the federal government completes the K-IV project on time, water might not be available since the Sindh administration has deliberately delayed resolving the water crisis. Where water projects continue to face delays, executive engineers have strengthened the dirty business of the tanker mafia by creating an artificial crisis in posh and middle-class areas, due to which people are forced to buy tankers at high prices," confirmed Al-Huda. According to a survey conducted by The Express Tribune, the connivance of the top officials of the KWSC with the tanker mafia has created an artificial water crisis in the city, which is particularly affecting areas like Clifton, Defence, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 13D-2 and 13D-3, North Nazimabad, Nazimabad, Liaquatabad and the Pakistan Employees Cooperative Housing Society (P.E.C.H.S) among other areas. The Express Tribune tried contacting the Secretary of Irrigation Zarif Khedro to confirm the news concerning the delay in the completion of K-IV, but he chose not to respond.
