This must be great news for real estate investors, but it’s not awesome news for some other people. Prime Minister (PM) Mr Nawaz Sharif has given approval for the development of a housing colony in the Federal Capital, but there’s a catch here: the housing society will be built by razing the premises of the National Agriculture Research Council (NARC), Pakistan’s premier institute dedicated to agricultural research.
Apparently, the housing colony will be built near Rawal Lake in Zone IV. According to a real estate maestro who contributes frequently to the Zameen.com Forum but asked not to be identified by name, the government aims to develop the society to raise revenues and it will be targeted at overseas Pakistanis. He also told Zameen.com that the PM was personally interested in the project, and that the transactions in the society would be undertaken in foreign currencies to raise the government’s foreign reserves.
According to a news source, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has directed the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR) to establish a committee for the smooth transfer of 1,395.2 acres of NARC’s land to the civic authority.
Reportedly, the residential property units will be built on 625 acres of land, while 60 acres will be used for commercial developments and the rest of the area will comprise open spaces and public buildings.
The CDA plans to develop 6,000 residential plots in the society, from which it intends to generate Rs 100 billion, while the civic authority is likely to net Rs 30 billion from the sale of commercial properties in the locality.
A bit of relief for the NARC officials is that the civic authority will initially spare 100 acres of land, where offices and residences of NARC officers are currently located. However, after the relocation of NARC, this area will also be sold.
Agriculture makes up around 24 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While it is encouraging that the government plans to relocate NARC, is it still justified in uprooting the prime agriculture research institute in the country to develop a profit-making housing society?
Please share your views with us in the comments section below.
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Relocation of NARC premises itself would require lots of funds. buildings, infrastructure, equipment shall have to be dismantled and re-fixed. I am 100 % sure that the ultimate beneficiaries shall be Design and Supervision Consultants appointed by CDA and the Developers, not the government.
I visited the other side of Margalla, few years back and found an area like Islamabad, still lying vacant. Goverment must had concentrated on the tunnel through Margalla hills for accessing and developing it. This could have generated more funds.
Overseas Pakistanis are already contributing over a billions dollars to the country’s foreign exchange reserves. Returns to them are almost negligible.
Government must concentrate on Power Projects and support its industry. Enhanced industrial production shall elevate the exports and consequently earn foreign exchange. This is the only positive way to generate dollars.
Thank you for your detailed feedback. Stay tuned to Zameen.com and keep on sharing your useful views with us.
Regards,
zain Nadeem
Dear Mr. Zain,
I would like to add to my previous comments. The remittance of over a billion dollars by the expatriate Pakistanis is PER MONTH i.e, their annual contribution to foreign reserves is over 12 billion US dollars. Whereas, the total prospective funds generation from the proposed scheme shall be 100 billion Rs., which equals approximately mere one billion Dollars. Therefore, in my opinion the government’s proposal is waste of, time, money and resources. Government must give the project a second thought.
A report of June 10, 2015 based on information from State Bank of Pakistan is being appended for supporting my stance per previous posts. The source is Pakistan Revenue
” Overseas Pakistanis remitted $16.63 billion during 11 months
June 10, 2015 Finance No comments
KARACHI: Overseas Pakistani workers remitted $16.632 billion in the first eleven months (July to
May) of 2014/2015, showing a growth of 16 percent compared with $14.338 billion received during the
same period in the preceding year, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Wednesday. During May 2015, the inflow of worker’s remittances amounted to US $1663.1 million, which is 1.37 percent higher than April 2015 and 15.46 percent higher than May 2014. The country wise details for the month of May 2015 show that inflows from Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, UK, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman) and EU countries amounted to US $528.34 million, US $399.35 million, US $221.1 million, US $194.15 million, US $190.66 million and US $28.5 million respectively compared with the inflow of US $451.14 million, US $290.91 million, US $216.84 million, US $181.04 million, US $164.01 million and US $39.06 million respectively in May 2014. Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries during May 2015 amounted to US $101.0 million together as against US $97.47 million received in May 2014. “