They have reached an agreement on the revised cost of the most expensiveproject of CPEC, ML-1. According to details, China has agreed to a revisedcost of $6.6 billion for Main Line-1 (ML-1), and the amended design planfor the project will be presented to Pakistan by October 31st.
ML-1 is a 1,872-kilometer railway track project from Karachi to Peshawar.According to media reports, the Joint Working Groups for CPEC on Aviation,Railways, and Infrastructure, headed by Pakistan’s Secretary ofCommunications Khaqan Aga, and Secretary of Railways Mazhar Ali Shah, willtravel to Beijing at the end of this week to participate in the JCC meetingto finalize the cost and related matters.
The formal announcement of the agreement is expected during Prime MinisterImran Khan’s visit to China on October 18th for annual ceremonies relatedto the Belt and Road Initiative.
According to sources, the estimated cost of ML-1 was initially around $9.8billion, but China showed some flexibility and received help in reducingcosts through some design changes. Similarly, some other parts of theproject will be developed by Pakistan itself within the prescribed time.
During Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to China, it is also expectedthat both sides will address the issue of delayed progress on four approvedprojects between 2018 and 2022, including Mirpur-Muzaffarabad-MansehraMotorway, Dera Ismail Khan Road, and Babusar Top, among others.
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Informed sources have indicated that former Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharifhad sought Chinese leadership’s cooperation in reviving these projects, andChina had also agreed to expedite work on ML-1.
However, no significant progress has been made on these projects sincethen, and now special investment facilitation will be pursued through theChina-Pakistan Investment Council (CPIC), which serves as a solution forcapital investment, mainly for financial institutions.
