Kharian – Rawalpindi Motorway Becomes NHA’s Most Expensive Motorway

The Kharian-Rawalpindi Motorway has become one of the most expensive projects of the National Highway Authority (NHA) as its per kilometer cost is 60 percent higher in comparison with other motorways in the country.

The unit cost of Kharian – Rawalpindi Motorway is Rs. 810 million per km which is much higher than the other 4-lane and some 6-lane motorways. Kharian – Rawalpindi Motorway is 29.88 percent more expensive than the Sambrial – Kharian motorway which has a per km cost of Rs. 629 million.

Similarly, it is 60.20 percent more expensive than the Lahore – Sialkot which has a per km cost of Rs 510 million. The cost of Kharian -Rawalpindi Motorway is 37.08 percent higher than the 6-lane Sukkur – Hyderabad motorway’s per km cost of Rs. 596 million. The motorway is 41.35 percent more costly than the Burhan – Havelian motorway which costs Rs. 578 million per Km.

The Transport and Communication department of the planning commission has asked the Ministry of Communication to justify the cost of the project with proper evidence as it is very high in comparison with the 4-lane Sambrial – Kharian, and Lahore – Sialkot motorways.

Similarly, the cost of land acquisition for the motorway also went up to Rs. 14.72 billion which is 123 percent higher than the original PC-I.

The project is proposed to be executed on a build-operate-transfer basis. The concessionaire will build, operate and maintain the motorway facility up to the full concession period and will hand over the facility to NHA after completion of the agreement. After that, NHA will be responsible for operations and maintenance.

This project envisages the construction of a 117.20 km, 4-lane access-controlled motorway from Kharian to Rawalpindi. This new motorway will be an extension of the currently operational Lahore – Sialkot motorway and under construction Sialkot – Kharian motorway. The project initiates from the junction interchange near Kharian on the Sialkot – Kharian motorway and terminates at T-Chowk near Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

The proposed motorway runs parallel to the N-5, passing the populous areas of Jhelum, Mangla, Dina, Sohawa, Gujar Khan, Mandra and finally terminating near Rawat at T-Chowk (Junction of Islamabad Expressway with N-5). The final selected alignment is at Annexure-I. Keeping the traffic volumes in view, the motorway is designed as a 4-lane access-controlled facility which will be expanded to 6-lane as per Level of Service (LOS) requirements. It will include an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) for safer and more efficient use of the road. The design is based on NHA specifications. The alignment/route of the motorway facility is selected keeping in purview future connectivity to other planned facilities or expansions.

The total estimated cost of the project is Rs. 108.410 billion with the Government of Pakistan paying Rs. 36.113 billion while the concessionaire’s share is Rs. 72.298 billion. GOP’s share includes Capital – Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of Rs. 7.500 billion, overhead costs Rs. 16.012 billion, and operational VGF Rs. 12.6 billion.