Rs16.26bn released for Lahore-Multan Motorway

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has so far released Rs16.266 billion for Lahore-Multan section (M-3 section) of the Karachi-Lahore Motorway.

The government had allocated a total of Rs40.666 billion for this project under its Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2018-19, according to the latest data issued by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms.

A National Highway Authority (NHA) official said that the physical work of Lahore-Abdul Hakeem section of M-3 had already been completed, however, due to some technical issues, including delay in the approval for deployment of motorway police, the section could not be opened on time.

“Now the section is scheduled to be open for traffic by February 15,” the official added.

For the construction of motorway from Burhan to Hakla on M-1, the government has so far released Rs10 billion out of total allocation of Rs25 billion, whereas Rs1 billion have been released for land acquisition, compensation for affected properties and relocation of utilities for the construction of Burhan/Hakla to DI Khan Motorway.

Overall, the government has released an amount of Rs37.76 billion for 45 new and ongoing projects of NHA out of total allocation of Rs112.997 billion for the fiscal year 2018-19 (FY19).