ISLAMABAD - The National Highway Authority (NHA) has received three bids from construction firms to build Sialkot-Kharian Motorway on Public Private Partnership mode.
The bids have been submitted by a joint venture of Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) and SMC Private Limited and a joint venture of Matracon Pakistan Private Limited and Techno Private Limited while the Zahir Khan and Brothers (ZKB) Private Limited has also submitted its proposal.
At the first stage, the technical evaluation has been done and all three contestants are declared technically suitable for the project. Now the financial proposals of the aforementioned firms are underway and a final decision in this regard is expected by the end of this month.
A senior officer involved in the process has explained that a very careful evaluation is needed as the project is going to be constructed on PPP mode. He said, “We are focusing on the stability of the model as the concession period of this project would span over a long period of time.”
According to the official documents, the project is proposed to be completed on PPP mode in which the concessioner will build, operate and maintain the motorway for an agreed time period and hand it over to the NHA once the term would be expired.
Total length of project to be 69km including 60km main motorway, 9km link expressway
The said motorway will start from Sambrial Interchange, an end point of Lahore-Sialkot Motorway, and terminate at Kharian on N-5 (GT Road). The total length of the motorway will be 69km including 60km main motorway and 9km long link expressway.
The commercial feasibility of the project has already been done. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs43.38 billion. However it is calculated that 56 percent of the total cost would be provided by concessioner while the government would also contribute 44 percent as Viability Gap Funding (VGF). The estimated time period to complete this motorway is 30 months.
According to RFP, the government would pay a huge chunk of VGF as upfront payment while would also give operational subsidy for first eight years from the agreed amount. The motorway would have 4 lanes but the structure would be built for 6 lanes. Two main toll plazas and five interchanges are included in the project in addition to a service area on this motorway.
The Sialkot-Kharian Motorway traverses major populated areas of Gujrat i.e. Jalalpur Jattan, Peru Shah, Daulat Nagar, Gulyana and terminates near Kotli Bajar where it will be connected via link highway to G.T Road with grade separated interchange.
On the other side, sources said, work on the development of the next phase starting from Kharian to Rawalpindi was also underway but its commercial feasibility was on very initial stages and even its alignment was yet to be finalised.
However, according to RFP document, construction of Kharian-Rawalpindi Motorway expected in future to supplement the revenues of SKM therefore concessionaire shall be required to share the 75%o enhance revenues with NHA while 25% will be kept by the concessionaire.
The Lahore-Sialkot-Kharian-Rawalpindi Motorway is a decade old project to provide an alternate motorway route between both provincial and federal capitals.
It was envisioned that it would not only reduce the travelling time but would also provide a breathing space to overloaded N-5 commonly known as G.T Road.
The project was divided into three phases and its first phase of a 103km long motorway from Lahore to Sialkot has already been completed in March 2020.