Govt to Begin First Phase of $10 Billion Railway Project Next Year

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday announced that construction of the first phase of the Main Line-1 (ML-1) railway project will begin early next year, with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) financing the initial phase.

Speaking at the launch of the government’s monthly development update for fiscal year 2026, Iqbal said work on the ML-1 project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will start with the Rohri-Karachi section. The ADB has committed around $2 billion for the initial phase, while the full 1,680-kilometer Peshawar-Karachi railway upgrade is estimated to cost about $10 billion.

Iqbal also announced that the government will begin work during the new fiscal year on the expansion of the Karachi-Hyderabad M-9 Motorway, the Sukkur-Hyderabad-Karachi M-6 Motorway, and the Chaman-Quetta-Karachi Highway.

He further said the government will launch the Karakoram Highway-II project to replace the nearly 100-kilometer section of the existing highway that will be affected by the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam, ensuring uninterrupted trade connectivity between Pakistan and China.

In addition to infrastructure projects, Iqbal said the federal government will work with provincial governments to declare the social sector a national development emergency, focusing on child nutrition, healthcare, education, and eliminating Hepatitis C over the next three to four years.