The National Highways Authority (NHA) will receive Rs100 billion from the petroleum development levy for three major highway projects in Balochistan. However this allocation still falls short of its Rs 160 billion request for the ongoing financial year.
According to NHA documents, the authority had asked for Rs 160.2 billion under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), but the federal government allocated Rs 100 billion.
Among the projects, Rs 34 billion has been allocated for the dualisation of the 330.52 km Khuzdar-Kuchlak Section (N-25), against the demanded Rs 50.8 billion. For the dualisation and rehabilitation of the Karachi-Quetta-Chaman Road (N-25), covering 273 km, Rs 33 billion has been allocated, although Rs 52.5 billion was requested.
Similarly, Rs 33 billion has been allocated for the dualisation of the 187 km Kararo-Wadh and Kuchlak-Chaman Sections, against the requested Rs 56.9 billion.
Currently, NHA is managing a portfolio of road and highway projects worth Rs 2,200 billion. In the PSDP for FY26, NHA submitted 161 project proposals but received approval for only 105, with allocated funds amounting to Rs 227 billion. Due to limited funding, NHA generated Rs 64.8 billion in FY25 from toll taxes and other sources, a significant increase from Rs 32 billion in FY24.
In April, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to use savings from reduced oil prices to fund the reconstruction of the N-25 highway and complete Phase II of the Kachhi Canal project in Balochistan, aiming to improve the infamous “deadly road” connecting Karachi to Chaman. The Rs 300 billion project was approved in FY22-23, but progress stalled due to funding gaps.
