ISLAMABAD: Delay in construction of Orange Line Metro System has escalated the premium cost of the project by 50 percent.The suspension of development work on this mega project has cost Rs11 billion to the national exchequer, officials in Punjab Mass Transit Authority reveal.The estimated premium cost of the project was Rs22 billion but it has increased to Rs30 billion. An additional Rs3 billion has been allocated for the construction of footpaths for this project adding the total premium cost to Rs33 billion.The Orange Line Metro System has two components — CPEC component and local component. The first component of Orange Line is part of the CPEC project whereas the second part is to be funded by the Punjab government. The estimated cost of first component, which includes the civil and E&M works is unchanged i.e. $1,458,141,720 ($1.458 billion). The entire funding for CPEC component has been provided by the Chinese government. However, the estimated premium cost of local component, which has to be funded by the government of Punjab has been escalated from Rs22 billion to Rs33 billion. In order to cut the project’s expenditure, the sitting Punjab government has slashed some components of the project but even then the cost has escalated by 50 percent. As per the PC-1 of the project, the Punjab government has to install a 0.4 kilometer long Walkalator from Lahore Railway Station to Metro Bus Station for connecting the two junctions with Orange Line station. However, the PTI government has dropped this from the masterplan. Similarly, a passenger transfer section was to be built between Anarkali and MAO but the present government has slashed this component from the project as well. The project cost would have escalated further if these two section were built as per the original plan. The Punjab Mass Transit Authority’s (PMTA) officials claim the local component price escalation was not because of the Delays as the civil works or the E&M were completed in time.
09-21-2019, 09:47 AM
Orange Line Metro System: Delays cost Rs11b to national exchequer
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