Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique on Thursday said that Karachi Circular Railway project had been included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) by the Joint Cooperation Committee held in Beijing on December 29.

Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Railways here, he said the KCR project had been delayed for years due to flaws in the project. The minister said that earlier this project was to be completed in collaboration with Japanese donor agency JICA but the model proposed by JICA was not implementable.

He said under the direction of the prime minister, the proposal of including KCR in CPEC was presented in the JCC meeting which was agreed by the Chinese side.

The meeting also discussed latest status on the issue of Royal Palm Golf and Country Club, Lahore and was informed that the summary of getting back the railway land had already been sent to the Punjab chief minister for approval.

The minister asked the committee to visit the Royal Palm Club to witness the reality. The committee also received briefing on the implementation status of the recommendation made by the committee with regard to railway land occupied by Shalimar Hospital and railways land illegally given to the DHA, Bahawalpur by the Punjab government.

The meeting was also attended by Chairman of the Committee Senators Sardar Fateh Muhammad Hassani, Maulana Hafiz Hamdullah, Rozi Khan Kakar, Lt-Gen (retd) Salahuding Tirmizi, Taj Haider, Samina Abid and Muhammad Javed Abbasi.