Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway to be Constructed under Public-Private Partnership: Planning Ministry

The government will construct the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway project through a public-private partnership, the planning secretary informed the Senate Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives on Friday. The secretary while briefing the committee said that the government will invest only Rs. 8 to 10 billion on the project worth Rs. 308 billion, while the remaining money will be invested by the private sector. The committee, which met under the chairmanship of Senator Attaur Rehman, was apprised that the country’s overall development budget is close to Rs. 2200 billion, out of which the federal government has a share of Rs. 700 billion, while the share of provinces is Rs. 1500 billion. He further said that several infrastructural projects under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were stopped but will be restarted now. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) informed the committee that 1,172,549 houses have been affected as a result of floods. Moreover, 733,488 animals have been killed in the floods, while 243 bridges and 5,063 km of roads have also been affected. The officials from Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) informed the committee that Dera Ismail Khan would be a more ideal site for an airport as compared to Bannu. CAA officials said that the authority looks at potential sites from a commercial perspective in addition to catering to large aircraft. The committee was further apprised that the runway of Swat Airport is also undergoing expansion.