KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has announced that the Ghotki-Kandhkot Road and Bridge Project will be inaugurated in June next year.

The bridge connects three provinces — Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan — and it was scheduled to be ready by June 2029. Its construction had repeatedly hit delays mainly owing to criminal activities involving katcha area dacoit gangs in the upper Sindh areas of Ghotki and Kandhkot-Kashmore districts.

After many back-to-back police-Rangers operations against the gangs in the region, the provincial government managed to get the construction work resumed only recently.

The decision to inaugurate the project was taken by the CM while presiding over the 49th PPP Policy Board meeting, at which he revised the timelines of the project and reviewed progress of the works, cost escalations and security challenges.

Asks officials to complete project by June next year; warns departments concerned against any delay

The meeting, held at the CM House in Karachi, was attended by Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho, Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro, Works & Services Minister Ali Hassan Zardari, Special Assistant to CM for Investment Syed Qasim Naveed, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Personal Secretary to the CM Agha Wasif, Chairman P&D Najam Shah, MPA Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Dr Sarosh Lodhi and other members of the Board.

The CM was briefed on the project’s implementation history, cost and the findings of the technical committee concerned.

The Ghotki-Kandhkot Bridge Project was initiated by the Works & Services Department with the Concession Agreement signed in May 2018. The initial hydraulic design was approved by the Indus River Commission (IRC) for a three-kilometre bridge length. The construction work had begun in August 2020.

Later, the bridge length was increased from three to 12.2 kilometres which required major revisions in scope, timeline and cost. Amended agreements were also signed in 2023.

The project cost now stands at Rs32 billion, with scheduled substantial completion in June 2029. However, the Sindh government has undertaken to ensure maintenance of law & order at the project site to facilitate completion of the project by June 2027.

Despite adverse security challenges in the katcha area, the construction work has progressed steadily over the last few months. As of Nov 2025, segments one and two are nearing completion, while segments three and four have significant work done on piling, shaft construction and transom installation. Overall progress is 54 per cent in piling, 49 per cent in shafts, and 47 per cent in transoms.

At the fresh meeting, CM Shah highlighted the bridge’s strategic importance and said: “It’s a vital lifeline that will open up new economic corridors for upper Sindh”. He directed the Works & Services, Home and Finance Departments to ensure uninterrupted execution of the project and warned them against any further delays.

“This project is not just an infrastructure, it’s our promise to the people of Sindh, and we will deliver,” he said.

The PPP Policy Board also reviewed major health department projects to strengthen service delivery, introduce advanced medical technologies and ensure continuity of critical healthcare services.

The board extensively discussed the proposed Plasma Fractionation Facility project, a flagship initiative of the health department, through the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority (SBTA). This will establish Pakistan’s first such facility under a PPP modality for the domestic production of plasma-derived medicinal products, which are currently fully imported.

The chief minister noted that the recently notified National Blood Transfusion & Blood Products Policy 2025-30 has created a favourable environment for attracting credible international investors. Several global companies have already shown their interest in establishing such a facility in Karachi.

After deliberations, the PPP Policy Board approved the ‘project concept’ and ‘project development facility funding’ to hire transaction advisers for feasibility studies and transaction advisory services.

The CM believed that the project will reduce import dependency, save foreign exchange, enhance patient safety through local traceability systems, generate jobs and potentially enable export of plasma-derived medicinal products in future.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2025