ISLAMABAD: The board of directors of the Public-Private Partnership Authority (P3A) on Friday approved the signing of Rs27.8 billion Sialkot-Kharian Motorway Project.

The approval, first-of-its-kind under the innovative transaction structure, is a major breakthrough in development financing, Planning Minister Asad Umar said while chairing the P3A board’s meeting.

Meanwhile, taking to the social media platform Twitter, Mr Umar said, “Chaired P3A authority board & approved signing the Rs27.8 billion Sialkot-Kharian motorway agreement. It is first project using innovative financial structure using VGF. This will open a major new development financing instrument. Projects in pipeline total Rs 1 trillion”.

The P3A board considered approval of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement for the construction of Sialkot-Kharian Motorway on a PPP basis.

Earlier, the board had approved the transaction structure and bidding documentation package of the project and successful bidders’ proposal in its meetings held in March and June, respectively.

The project envisages the construction of a greenfield 69-km-long four-lane toll road on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis at a cost of Rs27.8bn.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2021