Islamabad: The USD 60-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is running behind schedule with only three out of its 15 projects completed, according to a media report on Sunday.
Till date, Pakistan has completed only three CPEC projects in Gwadar worth USD 300 million, Express Tribune newspaper reported.
A dozen projects worth upto USD 2 billion remain unfinished including water supply and electricity generation, the news article quoted the CPEC Authority.
The ambitious CPEC is a 3,000-km long route of infrastructure projects connecting China’s northwest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Gwadar Port in the western Pakistan province of Balochistan.
India has protested to China over the CPEC as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
As per a progress review, the CPEC authority said all works relating to the socio-economic benefits in Gwadar were running behind schedule.
The completed projects are USD 4 million Gwadar Smart Port City Master Plan, the Physical Infrastructure of Gwadar Port, construction of Free Zone Phase-1 costing USD 300 million and the Pak-China Technical and Vocational Institute built from a USD 10-million Chinese grant.
Presently, Gwadar port area does not have its own power generation and water supply sources. The port area imports its electricity from neighbouring Iran.
The Express Tribune report said Gwadar’s water demand by 2020 would be 20 million gallons per day, as against the earlier supply of only 2 million gallons.
The CPEC includes laying pipelines from Swad Dam and Shadi Kure Dam with a capacity of 5 million gallons per day and 2.5 million gallons per day respectively.
However, these works are far from completion.
Last month, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal passed orders to begin the process of abolition of the CPEC Authority, saying it was a “redundant organisation” that wasted resources and thwarted speedy implementation of the regional connectivity programme.
