LAHORE: A National Assembly Standing Committee on Economic Affairs meeting chaired by Mirza Ikhtiar Baig has formed a subcommittee to review funding and implementation of several major infrastructure projects, including the M-9 and M-6 motorways and the Lyari Expressway.
The subcommittee — comprising Baig, Javed Hanif, Shehla Raza and Akhtar Bibi — will examine Karachi development projects and various water schemes in the city, and will hold a special meeting in Karachi on the four projects, Baig said.
The committee said delays in the Lyari Freight Bypass, M-9, M-6 and ML-1 rail projects are unacceptable.
Railway officials told the committee that the ML-1 railway line from Karachi to Rohri will cost $2 billion and will be financed by five development partners, including the Asian Development Bank. Officials said the design of the first section is being improved.
The ML-1 project, a flagship of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, has been in the CPEC framework since 2014, officials said. They said Pakistan waited ten years and received nothing, and has now exited the CPEC framework. The prime minister gave permission in 2025 to arrange alternative financing, according to railway officials.
Officials said the current design speed is 105 km/h, while the new project’s design speed is 160 km/h. They noted that railway speeds in the region reach 160 miles per hour, and that a speed of 200 would make it a bullet train. Officials said they are upgrading ML-1 rather than building a new line, and have reduced the project’s cost by $3 billion.
The total cost of the project is $9.8 billion, excluding bridge costs, officials said. Excluding bridges, it will cost $6 billion, according to ADB officials. The ML-1 project is to be completed in three years, railway officials said.
Hanif noted that it was previously said China would finance ML-1.
Baig said the subcommittee’s Karachi meeting will aim to remove obstacles in the city’s projects.
