While laying the foundation stone of M6 Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed his resolve that he will not compromise on the quality of work.
Addressing the foundation stone laying ceremony, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned that he would make a surprise visit to the site to see the speed and quality of the work.
“Consider it my bad or good habit I make surprise visits for projects. Prime Minister Shehbaz told the audience that he would take [Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali] Shah to monitor the quality.
The Prime Minister also said that the project should be completed in 30 months, the motorway will be beneficial for transporters and passengers after its completion. He further said that this project is being completed under Public Private Partnership Agreement.
The Prime Minister also highlighted that Pakistan will not develop without the development of Balochistan, adding that Gwadar port needs to be made operational.
He said that the project was unnecessarily delayed by the previous government.
“The coalition government is committed to bring development and prosperity to all the deprived areas of the country, including Balochistan and Sindh.”
Regarding the rehabilitation work of the flood affected people, the Prime Minister reiterated his commitment to use all available resources for this purpose.
Before the Prime Minister’s address, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah expressed regret and said that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had promised that the federal government would build the Sukkur Rohri bridge and had asked him for funds for the project.
On this, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the Chief Minister that his brother had announced this project during his time and he is announcing its completion.
PTI claimed the project.
Before the Prime Minister’s address, former Planning Minister Asad Umar congratulated the people of Sindh for the commencement of work on the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway, but expressed regret over the delay of eight months.
Umar said that the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project in 2021 during the tenure of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. He also informed that the project was approved by the Public Private Partnership Board on March 31, 2022.
سندھ کے عوام کو حیدرآباد سکھر موٹر وے مبارک. یہ منصوبہ عمران خان حکومت میں ہتمی طور پر منظور ہو چکا تھا. ECNEC منظوری 2021. پبلک پرائیویٹ پارٹنر شپ بورڈ منظوری 31 مارچ 2022. اس سے پہلے کنٹریکٹر بھی سیلیکٹ ہو چکا تھا. اب 8 ماہ برباد کرنے کے بعد امپورٹڈ حکومت کام شروع کر رہی ہے
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) December 13, 2022
The contractor was also selected earlier. Now after wasting 8 months the imported government is starting work,” Umar tweeted.
Construction contract was signed.
The concession agreement for the construction of the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway project was signed in December 2021 between the National Highway Authority (NHA) and the contractor.
Under the transaction structure approved by the Public Private Partnership Board, the federal government will contribute only Rs 9.5 billion during the construction period while the remaining project cost of Rs 297.5 billion will be borne by private party equity and commercial debt.
The private party will also pay at least Rs 408 billion to the NHA and an estimated corporate tax of Rs 908 billion during the grace period. Also, at the end of the grace period the project will be transferred to NHA at no cost.
The motorway, commonly known as the M6 motorway, is the largest project signed under the PPP umbrella in the country’s history.
The project was structured by the Federal Public Private Partnership Authority (P3A) in collaboration with NHA under Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) mode.
The 306 km long motorway will consist of six lanes. Designed to be constructed as a climate-resilient project, the private party will construct and operate the project for 25 years starting from the date of execution of the contract.
The project will complete the missing link of the North-South (Peshawar-Karachi) motorway network. The project is expected to bring significant economic benefits in terms of savings in travel time, travel costs, and raising the socio-economic profile of the region.
