KARACHI: Talks between Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) over a $2 billion loan agreement to complete the first phase of a multibillion-dollar railway upgradation project have reached an “advanced level,” officials privy to the matter said on Wednesday.
The 480-kilometer Karachi-Rohri railway section is part of the $7 billion Main Line-1 (ML-1) project, which Islamabad has long sought to implement under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
The ML-1 upgrade is the largest infrastructure scheme under the over $60 billion CPEC project, with Beijing originally pledging $6.67 billion for it in 2016. However, financing has stalled for nearly a decade.
The ML-1 project aims to modernize Pakistan’s 1,250-kilometer strategic railway corridor stretching from Kotri city in Sindh to the eastern city of Attock in Punjab. It will feature over 90 operational stations and a dedicated freight track.
“The talks with ADB have reached an advanced level for securing financing to complete the Karachi-Rohri project,” said a Pakistan Railways official, who was privy to the negotiations, on condition of anonymity.
