Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday laid the foundation stone of first phase of the much-awaited Karachi-Lahore (M-9) motorway project which also include a motorway between Karachi and Hyderabad.
The Karachi to Hyderabad motorway will be completed at a cost of Rs 36 billion in 2.5 years.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony, the prime minister said Pakistan would soon be counted among the developed countries. He said his government was fully committed to eradicating terrorism, ending the energy crisis and boosting the national economy.
He said it was his desire to complete the Karachi-Peshawar motorway during his present tenure and even extend it to Kabul for which he had talked to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who has expressed his willingness for this futuristic project.
Sharif said that preparations were underway for the Khunjrab-Gwadar motorway which would be the part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project. He said there was also a plan for construction of Malir Expressway which would begin from Malir Court Complex and join M-9. The premier said indigenous resources were being mobilised for launching of Hyderabad-Sukkur portion of Karachi-Lahore motorway. He said the Sukkur-Multan portion was part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and work on it would start soon.
He said construction of roads in Balochistan was also amongst the priorities of his government. He said the FWO would take up construction of Multan-Lahore section of the motorway.
Sharif hoped that construction of motorways would help promote national harmony and solidarity.
In addition, he said, a number of projects were planned to ensure elimination of load shedding by 2017. For this purpose, 10,000 megawatts of electricity would be added to the national grid by then. He said 3600 MW would be generated through imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) while there were also plans for import of 4000 MW from China. He said steps were being taken for the use of Thar coal for generating cheap electricity.
