The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved the revised Southern Punjab Poverty Alleviation Project (SPPAP), besides okaying construction of Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway, land acquisition for Lai Expressway, Rawalpindi ring road. Adviser to the PM on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin chaired the ECNEC meeting on Wednesday, which was attended by Planning Minister Asad Umer, Minister for Industries Makhdoom Khusroo Bakhtiar, Energy Minister Hammad Azhar, Adviser to the PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, Punjab Irrigation Minister Mohsin Leghari, federal secretaries and other senior officers from federal as well as provincial governments. The ECNEC approved a revised Southern Punjab Poverty Alleviation Project (SPPAP) worth Rs25,243.131 million. Contributions from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), the government of Punjab and beneficiaries will assist the funding of the project spread over ten districts of Punjab. The ECNEC considered and approved revised project for Construction of Hyderabad–Sukkur Motorway on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis with cost of Rs191,471.074 million. The project will be executed by National Highway Authority (NHA) and envisages construction of 306-km long, 06– lane wide, divided fenced between Hyderabad and Sukkur. The ECNEC also approved the project of land acquisition for Lai Expressway and Flood Channel, Rawalpindi, worth Rs24,960.70 million, with directions that no expenditure will be incurred till completion of EIA report and approval of the project from PPP Board. The project will be executed by Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA). The project envisages acquisition of 750 kanals of land to provide a clear right of way for construction of the Lai Nullah Expressway and flood channel project which would constitute an integral part of the transportation network of Rawalpindi, besides flood mitigation and sewage disposal. The ECNEC also approved a project for construction of Rawalpindi Ring Road, main carriageway from Baanth (N-5) to Thallian (M-2) amounting to Rs23,606.214 million with condition to acquire the concurrence of Planning Commission and inclusion of Axel load management in the project. The provincial ADP will finance the project and Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) will execute the project for construction of 6 lane access-controlled Rawalpindi Ring Road 38.3-km in length. The ECNEC discussed in detail and deferred the Greater Thal Canal Project (Phase-II) with observations to discuss in the next meeting after considering the technical aspect of the project, inclusion of comments of Sindh province in the report of CDWP and addressing the reservations of all the stakeholders.