ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Communications Hafiz Abdul Karim Wednesday visited the National Highway Authority (NHA) head office where Chairman NHA Shahid Ashraf Tarar gave a detailed briefing about China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other motorway projects.
The chairman informed the minister that 13 motorway projects worth Rs1,300 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 2,400 km.
He informed that Hazara Motorway (E-35), Lyari Expressway (32 km), Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (136 km) and Rathodero-Khuzdar Motorway (M-8) would 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 would be completed in 2018. Similarly, Havelian-Mansera (39 km) and two sections of Multan-Sukkur Motorway 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 Rs350 billion were awarded on Built-Operate-Transfer basis through active participation of the private sector.
These included Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6), Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway and upgradation of Islamabad-Lahore Motorway. He said earnings from these projects were expected to cross over Rs300 billion.