China’s firm wins M-8 section contract

post-feature-img
Description

National Highway Authority NHA has declared the joint venture among two Pakistani firms and China’s Geological Engineering Complex (SPGEC) as the ‘most advantageous’ bidder for the development of a section of Ratodero-Gwadar motorway (M-8) under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

According to the statement released by the NHA, SPGEC in JV has offered to build package 2B of 168 kilometers Awaran-Nall section of the Hoshab-Awaran-Khuzdar missing link in the M-8 motorway at the least cost of Rs9.18 billion. Following the rules of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), NHA has to give the agreement to the most profitable bidder within two weeks.

The section is part of the development project to establish a two-lane motorway facility from Hoshab to Khuzdar in Balochistan.

The project road begins from Awaran and ends at Basima-Khuzdar Road (N-30) in the Nall area nearby Khuzdar. M-8 will be following the alignment of N-30 after Nall to link with the Ratodero-Khuzdar section of M-8 at Khuzdar, which is already operative, NHA added.

Currently, N-30 is under construction as part of the Balochistan Development Package, worth Rs400 billion, proposed by the federal government as part of CPEC to link Gwadar with the eastern areas of the province as well as Iran.

M-8 is an 892-kilometer-long east-west motorway that connects the Sukkur and Larkana areas of Sindh to Gwadar.

NHA stated that out of the 892 kilometers of motorway, 492 kilometers sections, the 242 kilometers long Ratodero-Khuzdar while 250 kilometers Hoshab-Turbat-Gwadar have already been built and operational. The Hoshab-Khuzdar section is the missing link to accomplish M-8 in which NHA has already engaged the Hoshab-Awaran section (148 kilometers). After the completion of the missing link of Hoshab-Awaran-Nall, M-8 will give the shortest route to Gwadar, NHA added. Meanwhile, the Chairman of the CPEC Authority retired Lt-Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa mentioned that the construction and enhancement of roads in Balochistan is the key priority of the government to increase Gwadar port’s connectivity with other parts of the country.