Senate Committee discusses Revised Cost and Financial Viability of M-6 Motorway Project
ISLAMABAD, Jan 17 (EPI): The Senate Standing Committee on Communications, chaired by Senator Pervaiz Rashid, convened today to receive a comprehensive briefing on the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway 306KM (M-6), with special emphasis on the cost evaluation between PSDP and Public Private Partnership.
Chairman NHA said that the revised cost of M-6, if the project is completed through PSDP, is around 355 billion rupees. In contrast, if the project is completed through Public Private Partnership, its cost will be 399 billion rupees. However, in 2022, the cost of the project was 308.194 billion rupees.
NHA has engaged various stakeholders like the World Bank, Qatar, Azerbaijan, and the Asia Infrastructure Bank to attract investment. By keeping in view the current policy rate and financial viability of the project, it is expected that the project will be initiated through Public Private Partnership, Chairman NHA mentioned. Additionally, the government has discussed the project in the ‘Joint Working Group’ for its inclusion in CPEC.
While discussing the traffic counts of N-5 and N-55 and their possible diversion to M-6, officials informed that the average traffic counts on N-5 and N-55 are around 18 to 20 thousand vehicles per day. However, it is expected that the traffic diversion from N-5 and N-55 to various segments of M-6 will be around 6 to 46 percent of vehicles per day.
Senator Pervaiz Rashid inquired about the preference of Freight Transport, if traveling from Peshawar to Karachi, between Indus Highways and the Motorway. Officials said that freight transport prefers Indus Highway as the distance on Indus Highways is around 264 km shorter than the motorway for the said route.
Furthermore, the committee was briefed on the recent status of PSDP projects undertaken by NHA. Officials stated that NHA is currently working on 28 projects, of which 09 projects are in Balochistan, 05 are in Sindh, 10 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa/Gilgit Baltistan, and 04 are in Punjab.
Chairman NHA, Sheheryar Sultan, said that in the current fiscal year, the progress on these projects has been stagnant as NHA has only been granted 161 billion rupees against the demand of 600 billion rupees.
NHA is working to enhance the allocation for those projects where the physical progress is above 50 percent in the mid-year evaluation, Chairman NHA remarked. Besides funds, the other major reason for stagnancy is the deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the areas adjacent to Rajanpur, he further added. The Committee decided to invite the Planning Minister in the next meeting to address NHA’s concerns.
The Committee further discussed the strength of deputationists working in NHA. Officials said that, as of now, 54 officers are on deputation, with 30 working in Grade 17 and above, and 24 in BS-16 and below.
The Chairman of the Committee inquired about the nature of the positions held by these deputed officers. Officials explained that the most deputationists are working on general seats; however, NHA is currently accessing their performance to determine whether to retain them or not, and a detailed report will be submitted after the completion of the evaluation.
In attendance were Senators Dost Ali Jeesar,Zamir Hussain Ghumro,Mohammad Abdul Qadir,Jam Saifullah Khan,Secretary for Communications Ali Sher Mehsud,Chairman NHA Sheheryar Sultan and other senior officials from relevant Departments.
Ends-Exact Press International-