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ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday said the groundbreaking of the first phase of the Mainline-1 railway track will take place early next year with the financing of the Asian Development Bank.
He was speaking to journalists at the launch of the monthly development update culminating the fiscal year 2026. Talking about the key infrastructure development agenda for the new fiscal year, Mr Iqbal announced that work will begin on the Karachi-Hyderabad M-9 expansion, the Sukkur-Hyderabad-Karachi M-6 Motorway, and the Chaman-Quetta-Karachi Highway.
He said the construction work on the ML-1 railway project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will commence from the Rohri-Karachi section. The Asian Development Bank has committed a loan package of around $2 billion. The total cost of the Peshawar-Karachi 1,680km strategic track commonly known as ML-1 is estimated at about $10bn.
Asked if the ADB loan was acquired after China declined to take up the project as it used to be the preferred financier under the CPEC, the minister did not agree, saying all three modes including local, Chinese and multilateral financing were part of the plan under the CPEC framework agreement for ML-1. “It was agreed with China under the CPEC framework that ML-1 would be financed jointly through Chinese, Pakistani and multilateral sources,” he said.
