*LAHORE – Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said that the cost ofPakistan Railways’ (PR) ML-1 project under the China Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC) has been cut by $2 billion.*
The mega project to revamp the colonial-era line stretching 1,872 km (1,163miles) from Karachi to the northwestern city of Peshawar was initiallypriced at $8.2 billion, but wrangling over costs has led to delays.
The changes are part of Islamabad’s efforts to rethink key Belt and RoadInitiative (BRI) projects in Pakistan, where Beijing has pledged about $60billion in financing but the new government of Prime Minister Imran Khanappears to be more cautious about the Chinese investment.
“Pakistan is a poor country that cannot afford huge burden of the loans,”Rashid told a news conference in the city of Lahore.
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“Therefore, we have reduced the loan from China under CPEC for railprojects from $8.2 billion to $6.2 billion,” he added, referring to theChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Rashid said the government remains committed to the Karachi-Peshawar MainLine-1 (ML-1) project but added that he wishes to further reduce the costto $4.2 billion from $6.2 billion.
