Some of important National Highway Authority (NHA) projects including Super Highway between Karachi and Hyderabad, to be upgraded to six-lane Motorway (M-9), are being constructed on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis, sources in the authority informed APP on Sunday.
They said that the authority was giving preference to BOT projects in the highway sector. The authority signed a concession agreement for the construction of 136km M-9, with the Standard Construction firm in September last year for the construction of the M-9 project.
The project will cost Rs 6.3 billion and will be completed in two years. The scope of works includes expansion of the present road from four to six lanes and provision of service areas.
The sources said the 136-km motorway was the first genuine road project undertaken by the NHA on BOT basis. "The government would earn Rs 9 billion in 25 years as taxes from the project and the new motorway would form part of a wider network connecting the principal and populous cities of the country.
Gujar Khan Bypass opened in September 2006 was the first project completed by the NHA on BOT basis. Work on Rs 8 million Lakpass tunnel in Balochistan is in full swing, a project being built by Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) on BOT basis, the sources added.
Three more road development projects, including the Karachi Mass Transit Project and Tarnol interchange will be constructed by Malaysian firms on BOT basis.
It may be mentioned here that the NHA had made arrangements for construction of Pindi Bhattian-Faisalabad Motorway (M-3) on BOT basis but the then government did not approve the plan so it was built from government funds.