ECC approves Rs380bn grants, Rs275bn for five water projects
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired the meeting, which also cleared around Rs84bn for the armed forces and extended gas supply to two Punjab fertiliser plants until Dec 31.
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet approved supplementary grants of about Rs380 billion on Wednesday, including Rs275bn for five major water projects facing funding shortfalls and around Rs84bn for the armed forces.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired the meeting. According to TechJuice, the Rs275bn is meant for the Diamer-Bhasha dam, the Mohmand dam, the Greater Karachi Water Supply scheme known as K-IV, the Chashma Right Bank Canal and the Kacchi Canal, all under the Ministry of Water Resources. The money will be released in stages to match Wapda's requirements rather than in one instalment.
The 2026-27 budget had set aside about Rs103bn for the five schemes. Wapda chairman Muhammad Saeed told a parliamentary panel that the allocation was too small to keep work on schedule, and said the prime minister and the finance ministry had approved his request for more.
Dawn reported that the committee approved three summaries moved by the Defence Division. TechJuice put the defence total at nearly Rs84bn and itemised it: Rs54bn for three Defence Services projects, among them more than Rs31bn for the Special Security Divisions of the North and South, Rs11.88bn for Pakistan Navy projects and Rs10bn for internal security duties and allowances.
The committee approved Rs1.094bn for adding a Lineage L-1000 executive aircraft to the army's fleet and Rs29.139bn for Project Istaqlal. A separate Rs3.71bn went to Frontier Corps Balochistan (North) for helicopter maintenance, on a request from the Narcotics Control Division.
Gas supply to two Punjab fertiliser plants, Fatima and Agritech, will continue until Dec 31, subject to availability.
On a Commerce Division proposal, the ECC restricted imports of camera-enabled smart glasses and recommended that provincial governments and the Islamabad Capital Territory frame workplace rules for the use of such devices. It relaxed the Exploration and Production Rules so that 89 petroleum rights can be extended or renewed on prescribed conditions, and approved Rs1bn for village gasification in FY27, for villages within five kilometres of gas production fields.
The committee approved the transfer of Rs15.625bn to the Prime Minister's Austerity Fund 2026, drawn from savings on government austerity and fuel conservation measures.
TechJuice reported that in June the federal government took about Rs1.035 trillion from the four provinces outside the National Finance Commission framework, saying the money was for strategic national needs including water projects and national security.
How the reports differ
Both outlets carried the same headline figures: about Rs380bn in all, Rs275bn for water and roughly Rs84bn for defence. Dawn led with the water allocation and the armed forces total, and noted that three summaries from the Defence Division were approved without setting out what they contained. TechJuice named the five water projects, itemised the defence grants down to the army aircraft and Project Istaqlal, and carried the decisions on smart glasses, petroleum rights, village gasification and the austerity fund transfer. TechJuice alone reported the Rs1.035 trillion the federal government took from the provinces in June outside the National Finance Commission.
PM approves restructuring of TDAP to push exports
Shehbaz Sharif ordered merit-based hiring and an outside audit firm after a review of the trade authority's performance in Islamabad.
PAC tells foreign ministry to tighten accounting over mission fund abuse
The committee said staff in overseas missions were embezzling public money without accountability and ordered new secretary Asim Iftikhar Ahmad to send it revised rules.
Polio campaign reaches 22.1 million children in four days
The National Emergency Operations Centre says the fifth day of the 97-district round is under way and teams will keep working until November 8.
PTA and Meta block 176,000 WhatsApp accounts on recycled SIMs
The regulator has shared about 10 million recycled numbers with the platform and will send 5,000 a month to catch accounts left active after old SIMs were cancelled.
NA panel defers electronic transactions bill again as PPP talks continue
The PTA chairman told the same committee that five show-cause notices went to telecom operators in three months, but court stay orders have blocked penalty recovery.
Pakistan's external debt doubles in a decade to $135.1bn, World Bank says
The International Debt Report 2026 puts public and publicly guaranteed borrowing at $107.1bn, with China the largest single creditor at $22.4bn.
Goods transporters cut freight charges by 5 percent
The All Pakistan Goods Transport Ittehad says the cut follows four to five days of petrol and diesel price reductions and wants prices lowered further.
Maliha Ali takes IMMAF bronze, federation appeals semi-final verdict
Pakistan's federation has asked the IMMAF judging commission for a round-by-round breakdown of the split decision that sent Russia's Polina Baldina into the featherweight final.