ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has moved forward with a Rs115.9 billion development package spanning tax reform, space technology, agriculture, higher education, sports and water management, as the government tries to turn its Uraan Pakistan agenda into projects with measurable economic outcomes. The Central Development Working Party (CDWP), chaired by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Friday, cleared five projects worth Rs21.590 billion and sent another two, carrying a combined price tag of Rs94.301 billion, to ECNEC for consideration.

Pakistan Development Projects Advance

The biggest bet sits inside Pakistan’s notoriously difficult tax system. CDWP recommended the Rs57.109 billion Transforming and Digitalizing Revenue Administration (TADRA) project to ECNEC, with proposed concessional financing linked to the Asian Development Bank. The programme seeks to digitize tax and customs administration, improve data use and expand the tax base. ADB’s own project documents describe the broader initiative as an effort to automate revenue administration, strengthen transparency and improve domestic resource mobilisation.

FBR Targets 13.5% Tax-to-GDP Ratio

The numbers make TADRA particularly consequential. FBR told the CDWP that the investment could help lift Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio to 13.5% by 2029. Iqbal, however, demanded measurable targets covering additional revenue, taxpayer growth and improvement in the tax-to-GDP ratio rather than treating digitalisation itself as success. The committee sent the project forward subject to PIDE reviewing its business model.

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Technology formed the other major pillar. CDWP recommended the Rs37.192 billion PakSat-2 Satellite System to ECNEC and approved the Rs3.623 billion GEOSPATIALx COMPLEX, a Geo-AI development and innovation hub. Iqbal described Pakistan’s space programme as an important component of Uraan Pakistan, placing satellite and geospatial capabilities inside the government’s broader technology strategy.

Pakistan Wants One Million Acres of Olives

Agriculture produced perhaps the meeting’s most ambitious physical target. CDWP approved the revised Rs5.015 billion Promotion of Olive Cultivation on Commercial Scale in Pakistan Phase-II, an initiative that traces its origins to Vision 2025. Iqbal called for greater private-sector participation and highlighted the Potohar belt and Kallar Kahar-Islamabad corridor as areas with strong commercial potential.

His longer-term target goes considerably further: one million acres under olive cultivation. The project also plans expansion in Balochistan and the Newly Merged Districts, potentially giving Pakistan another avenue to reduce reliance on imported edible oils if commercial yields, processing capacity and market linkages develop alongside plantation acreage.

Universities, Sports and Water Also Get Funding

CDWP also cleared the revised Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad Khan Center in Basic Sciences, while Iqbal ordered officials to modernize its scope around emerging disciplines and rationalize costs. He directed HEC to identify universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan for similar centres and called for laboratory upgrades at five engineering universities.

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The committee additionally approved Rs5.758 billion to revamp facilities at the Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad and Rs338.179 million to improve WAPDA’s high-frequency radio network for water-resource management.

The Rs116 billion package looks broad on paper, but its real test starts after approval. Pakistan has committed money to everything from tax digitalisation and satellites to olives, research laboratories and sports infrastructure. Whether those investments deliver economic returns will depend less on the size of the approvals and more on execution, measurable outcomes and the government’s ability to keep ambitious projects from turning into expensive delays.