The Federal Minister for Communications Hafiz Abdul Karim visited the National Highway Authority head office today where Chairman NHA Shahid Ashraf Tarar gave a detailed briefing to the Minister about China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other motorway projects.

The Chairman informed the Minister that 13 Motorway projects worth Rs. 1300 billion were under execution in different parts of the country. These projects, he said, would be completed during the next two years, taking the overall length of motorway network in the country to around 2400 km. He informed that Hazara Motorway (E-35), Lyari Expressway (32 km), Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (136 km) and Rathodero-Khuzdar Motorway (M-8) will be completed this year. Similarly, a number of other important projects including Gojra-Shorkot (62 km), Shorkot-Khanewal (65 km), Lahore-Abdulhakim Motorway (230 km) and Dera Ismail Khan-Hakla section of Western Corridor (285 km), Lahore Eastern Bypass (16 km) and Chakdara-Kalam highway will be completed in 2018. Similarly, Havelian-Mansera (39 km) and two sections of Multan-Sukkur Motorway and would be completed before June 2018.

He said three more projects namely Naukundi-Mushkel-Panjgur (90 km), Gilgit-Shindor-Chitral (364 km) and Mirpur-Muzaffarabad-Mansehra (228 km) would be added to CPEC in coming JCC meeting.

He informed the Minister that for the first time in country’s history, highway projects around Rs. 350 billion were awarded on Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis through active participation of the private sector. This included Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6), Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway and up gradation of Islamabad-Lahore Motorway. He said earnings from these projects were expected to cross over Rs.300 billion.