The government has cut the estimated cost of Main Line-1 (ML-I) project by a whopping $2billion), under cost rationalisation. The decision was made during the meeting of the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) chaired by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan.
Sources claim that to complete the project the government intends to complete some of the portions of the railway line on a public-private partnership basis.
Previously the project was previously envisaged at a cost of $9.2 billion but after it was pointed out during the meeting that results of the financial and economic analysis provided in the PC-I, based on total cash flow, were misleading and needed to be revised. The project has been sent to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) for final approval.
ML-1 starts from Karachi, passes through Kotri/Hyderabad, Rohri, Multan, Lahore, and Rawalpindi and culminates in Peshawar. The line is 1,872 km long, including the 55km-long Taxila-Havelian section and 91km-long Lodhran-Khanewal section.
