ISLAMABAD: The Na­­tional Hi­­ghway Authority (NHA) recorded a substantial increase in its revenue during the last financial year — from Rs64 billion to Rs110bn.

Collection from toll plazas, the most lucrative ea­­rner for the authority, had the distinction of recording a cent per cent jump in receipts for the period. This head contributed Rs64bn to the NHA’s coffers while the sum for the previous year was Rs32bn.

These figures were released by NHA officials during a meeting cha­ired by Comm­unications Min­is­ter Abdul Aleem Khan at the NHA headquarters in Islamabad on Monday.

Aleem Khan called upon NHA officials to launch an awareness campaign to educate highway users about the ‘M-Tag’ application so that more vehicles can benefit from this facility.

Presiding over a high-level meeting, the minister said the performance of NHA during the past six months in terms of revenue collection was encouraging.

“It will help to make NHA financially independent and strong.”

Saudi investment

Aleem Khan, who also holds the portfolio of minister for board of investment, held a follow-up meeting on investment with Saudi authorities.

The minister and the Saudi Assistant Minister on Investment, Ibrahim Al Mubarak, held a video link meeting regarding Saudi investment in Pakistan.

Ibrahim Al Mubarak, the Saudi minister, invited Pakistan to the Expo being held in Saudi Arabia on Nov 25 and 26.

Ahmed Farooq, Pakistan’s Am­­bassador to Saudi Arabia, briefed the meeting about measures being taken by the two countries to promote commercial exchanges.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2024