Islamabad:
The Minister of Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb assured Thursday at the National Assembly that the Sukkur-Hyderabad-Karachi highway is essential for the economic connectivity of Pakistan and will be completed at all costs.
Responding to the concerns raised by the legislators, the minister said that the project had been hierarchical and goes forward with funding by foreign sources or the public sector development program (PSDP).
He said the federal budget is currently being finalized and that the Minister of Planning will be informed of the importance of the project so that appropriate allowances can be done.
The Minister of State for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Chaudhry Armaghan Subhani, while responding to the notice of attention to the exclusion of the PSDP 2024-25 project, he said that the members of the highway do not reach this year’s development portfolio. initiative under several financing mechanisms.
He added that the Ministry of Communications has already offered 10 billion rupees for the M-6 in the next PSDP, with the figure subject to revision.
“This project will be reflected not only in the PSDP, but also supported by models of foreign financing and public-private partnership (PPP),” he said, adding that bases are underway to start the project during the next financial year.
He informed the Chamber that global financial institutions, including the Asian Development Bank (BAD), are interested in co -finance the highway and that negotiations are underway.
Rejecting allegations of regional favoritism, he declared that the M-6 is not a project centered on Punjab, stressing that only an 18-kilometer section falls in Punjab, while the rest covers the Sindh and Baloutchistan.
