Daily Times

LAHORE: The Punjab government has allocated Rs 7.848 billion for the communication sector in the non-development budget estimates for the fiscal year 2016-2017 on Monday.

Out of the total budget of communication sector, Rs 334.5 million would be spent for administration, Rs 7.339 billion for highways, roads and bridges and Rs 174.2 million has been set aside for other projects. It is pertinent to mention that last year, Rs 7.322 billion were allocated for this sector but only Rs 6.806 billion was utilised under the revised estimates.

According to further details, Punjab government has allocated Rs 804.8 million for Lahore Ring Road Authority (LRRA) as compared to Rs 775.09 million allocated to LRRA last year.

The provincial government has also allocated Rs 78.5 million for land acquisition and control officers and Rs 25.2 million for directorate of bridges, which is approximately Rs 1.74 million and Rs 1.77 million more than the allocations made for the 2015-16 budget respectively.

Similarly, for the current fiscal, Rs 119.1 million were earmarked for chief engineers, Rs 15.6 million for superintending engineer/project director of the Engineering Cell, Rs 44.5 million for road research and material testing institute and Rs 10.2 million for sub-project of the Management Unit.

For executive engineers, maintenance and repair, tools and plants, planning and design, Rs 1.498 billion, Rs 4.938 billion, Rs 15 million and 83.2 million have been allocated respectively.