RAWALPINDI: The multi-billion-rupee Rawalpindi Ring Road project is 80 per cent complete, but the deadline has been extended from the end of March to the end of April as the revised PC-I, which escalates the project cost to Rs53 billion, is yet to receive approval from the Punjab Planning and Development Board.

A senior official of the district administration told Dawn that the project is likely to be completed by the end of April or early May due to pending work on the Thalian Interchange, which will connect the Ring Road with the Motorway.

He said the revised PC-I of Ring Road is pending with the Punjab Planning and Development Board, which is likely to take up the matter next week to decide whether it accepts the responses to its objections.

The official said the Planning and Development Board raised objections over the price escalation, to which the Project Management Unit and the Rawalpindi Development Authority submitted detailed replies to justify the increase.

With over 80pc work completed, authorities expect Rs53bn project to be finished by April or early May, pending nod from Punjab P&D Board

He added that a technical team of the Planning and Development Board visited the site last week and inspected the work. Following the visit, the board is expected to take up the issue in its next meeting, likely to be held next week.

When contacted, Deputy Project Director of the Ring Road, Ashfaq Sulheri, told Dawn that work on the mega project was in full swing and more than 80 per cent of the work had been completed so far.

He said 90 per cent of the structural work had been completed, including all bridges such as the railway bridge, while asphalt work had been completed on a 22-kilometre stretch.

The total length of the Ring Road from Baanth to Thalian is 38 kilometres. He said the project is likely to be completed by the end of April as a few components still need to be addressed.

“We are making a new interchange at Thalian where the Ring Road will be connected with the Motorway, and its cost is Rs5 billion,” he said.

“More than 18,000 vehicles will enter the Motorway from the Ring Road, so there was a dire need to construct a proper interchange to avoid congestion on the Motorway,” he added.

He said the Rs5 billion interchange scheme would be launched once the Planning and Development Board approves the revised PC-I of the Rawalpindi Ring Road worth Rs53 billion.

Mr Sulheri said the project cost escalated to Rs53 billion due to three main factors including construction of the Thalian Interchange to manage traffic flow on the Motorway, new measures to prevent flooding after lessons learned from damage to Motorway-5 during recent floods, and the increased cost of construction material.

He said that once the revised PC-I is approved, the contractor, Frontier Works Organisation, will start work on the interchange without delay, as the scheme was added later and is part of the revised PC-I.

“Although the Ring Road has been connected to the Motorway through a simple road, a proper interchange is necessary to avoid congestion and long queues of vehicles in the future,” he said.

Regarding the objections, he said Yasir Mobeen, Senior Chief Urban Development at the Planning and Development Department Punjab, visited the site last week along with a technical team, where officials briefed them on the flood mitigation measures and the Thalian Interchange.

He said procurement of lights for the Ring Road had been completed and state-of-the-art signboards were being prepared for installation, while plantation work had also begun.

“For the first time, six- to eight-foot trees are being planted along the Ring Road to give a green look to the road,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2026