China would provide $4.2 billion loan to Pakistan next week for Peshawar-Karachi (Multan-Sukkur) Motorway project and K K Thakot-Havelian project under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), it is learnt. According to sources, the agreement between China and Pakistan would be signed next week for $4.2 billion loan for the construction of two development projects. After signing the agreement, China Exim Bank (Export-Import Bank of China) would provide loan for the construction of Peshawar-Karachi (Multan-Sukkur) and K K Thakot Havelian project.
The China Exim Bank would provide $2.8 billion loan for Peshawar-Karachi (Multan-Sukkur) Motorway project and $1.38 billion for K K Thakot-Havelian project. An official source said that after the completion of Karachi-Lahore section of Peshawar-Karachi Motorway, the port city (Gwadar) will be linked with Multan, Faisalabad, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir directly through a 6-lane, high-speed access-controlled road network.
An official of the National Highway Authority (NHA) on condition of anonymity revealed that contracts for construction of 230 kms Lahore-Abdul Hakeem Section of Karachi-Lahore Motorway now renamed as Peshawar-Karachi Motorway (PKM) (Multan-Sukkur) has been awarded to M/s China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation while the 393 km Multan-Sukkur Section contract has also been awarded to M/s China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited.
The sources said that the project would facilitate transit between Karachi and other cities including Hyderabad, Matiari, Tando Adam, Shahdadpur, Nawabshah, Khairpur, Sukkur, Pano Aqil, Ghotki, Abaro, Sadiqabad, Rahim Yar Khan, Zahir Pir, Jalalpur Pirwala, Multan, Khanewal, Abdul Hakim, Pir Mahal, Samundri, Jaranwala and Nankana Sahib. The sources said that motorway from Havelian to Thakot as phase-I of the Islamabad-Raikot section of the corridor would be constructed. The Havalian to Thakot section of the corridor is being financed by China while other phases will be carried out on the basis of build-operate-and-transfer (BOT).
The firms that would invest in the CPEC project would be paid through collection of road tax (toll). "We would not give any prior financial guarantee to the firms but they will be given toll plazas, service areas and the right-of-way of the sections they will execute," sources added.
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