Rs 40.80b KWSB budget to be announced next week

Author: By Aslam Shah

KARACHI: The finishing touch on budget document with an outlay of Rs 40.80 billion of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board for fiscal 2017-18 has been completed and papers would likely to be presented before the Board meeting for approval in next week, officials in KWSB have informed.

The budget would be announced in second week of July.

However Jam Khan Shoro, Minister Sindh Local Government also holding the charge of Chairman KWSB has in principle approved the document.

The current KWSB annual fiscal paper is Rs 8 million less in monetary size as compared to the last fiscal year’s budget of the civic entity.

The grant and the development money from central government and Sindh would likely to be around Rs 31.80 billion including power bills of Rs 6.60 billion.

The total estimated inflow of revenue of the Board stands at around Rs 9 billion while the estimated expenditures somehow show the same size of the revenue income, KWSB officials maintained.

According to the budget document, an amount of over Rs 24.31 billion have been estimated to be spent on development projects while over Rs 8.70 billion has been earmarked for non-development expenditures.

KWSB has allocated Rs 850 million for additional work on Greater Karachi Water Scheme (K-III) while Rs 15.89 billion would be spent on ongoing water schemes under K-IV Scheme.

Meanwhile, Rs 393 million has been allocated for the rehabilitation of filter plants and the pumping houses.

KWSB has not allocated a single penny for the development of Textile City and Combined Effluent Treatment Plant (TP-IV) on Korangi Creek.

In the previous year, one billion rupees each for both of the projects had been allocated but no budget has been allocated in the fresh budget for these projects and it can be attributed to anticipating huge spending on K-IV project.

The officials of revenue, recovery and tax department of KWSB have remarked that department has already achieved 85 percent recovery of the target of Rs 7.70 billion of the last fiscal year.

The estimated spending on petroleum, oil and lubricants in the budget stands at around Rs 150 million while KWSB has earmarked Rs 1.26 billion for repair and maintenance of existing installations.

Published in Daily Times, July 10^th , 2017.