ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to inaugurate Sorab-Hoshab highway, an important link of western corridor of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) tomorrow. The ceremony will take place at Hoshab in Balochistan.
Built with an estimated cost of Rs 22 billion, 449km long highway links the port of Gwadar with up country, thus providing the vital north-south connectivity. Construction of 16 major and 105 minor bridges is also part of the project. The project is part of CPEC and with it, an important component of Western corridor is successfully completed. Balochistan, where record number of infrastructure projects are currently under execution, is expected to benefit enormously from this highway as it passes through least developed parts of the province and with the economic bonanza that will follow once the Gwadar Port becomes fully operational.
Under CPEC, a wide network of motorways and highways is being constructed. Out of 13 motorways planned under CPEC, four motorways including Peshawar-Islamabad (M-1), Islamabad-Lahore (M-2), Pindi Bhattian-Faisalabad, and Faisalabad-Gojra (M-4) are already operations while the rest will be completed during the next two to three years, taking the overall length of motorway network to over 2,000 kilometres. This includes Thakot-Havelian (120 km), Havelian-Hasanabdal motorway (53 km), Hakla-DI Khan Expressway (280 km), Lahore-Abdulhakim motorway (230 km), Multan-Sukkur motorway (393 km) and Gojra-Shorkot motorway (62 km).
