ISLAMABAD: As the new fiscal year began, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs13 billion supplementary grant for the financially struggling Pakistan Television Corporation (PTVC) and a bailout package of about Rs35bn for the Sialkot-Kharian Motorway project.

A meeting of the ECC, presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, was informed that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had sought a Rs20bn supplementary grant for PTVC to continue its operations despite lacking a business plan to become financially sustainable.

The Ministry of Finance opposed the large funding request from the public exchequer and, after consultations with the relevant officials, reduced the demand by nearly one-third to Rs13bn. It also put in place a quarterly payment schedule.

According to an official statement, the ECC approved the supplementary grant for PTVC for the financial year 2026-27, allowing the release of Rs3.25bn every quarter to meet the corporation’s operational and essential running expenses.

Approves Rs27.62bn sovereign guarantees, rollover of Rs6.94bn viability gap funding for Sialkot-Kharian Motorway

“The committee further directed the Ministry of Information to bring the matter back to the ECC within two months, along with a comprehensive financial sustainability plan for PTVC,” the statement said.

Sialkot-Kharian Motorway

The ECC also approved a summary submitted by the Ministry of Communications for the issuance of Rs27.62bn in sovereign guarantees for the construction of the 69-kilometre Sialkot (Sambrial)-Kharian Motorway (M-12) under a build-operate-transfer model.

It also approved the rollover of an already issued operational viability gap funding (VGF) amounting to Rs6.944bn.

“The guarantees will facilitate the concessionaire in achieving financial close for the public-private partnership (PPP) project in line with the approved fresh financing structure,” the statement said.

The 69km Sialkot-Kharian Motorway is being constructed by the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) at an estimated cost of more than Rs80bn under a revised commercial structure. Under the revised plan, the entire Lahore-Rawalpindi motorway corridor, comprising all three sections, will now be constructed by the FWO.

The M-12 project, along with the Lahore-Sialkot and Kharian-Rawalpindi sections, has been upgraded from a four-lane to a six-lane motorway on the directives of the Special Investment Facilitation Council. The project is expected to significantly improve industrial connectivity and regional mobility.

The Sialkot-Kharian Motorway project includes Rs21bn in viability gap financing from the government to make it commercially viable for private-sector participation, given the relatively low projected traffic volume. The additional sovereign guarantees of nearly Rs28bn are required to enable the FWO to raise financing from commercial banks.

Recently, the government also decided to award the Rs204bn, 117km Kharian-Rawalpindi Motorway (M-13) project to the FWO — the engineering and construction arm of Pakistan Army — without competitive bidding, on the recommendation of the National Highway Authority (NHA).

The NHA argued that the FWO was already executing the two adjoining sections of the Lahore-Rawalpindi Motorway corridor.

Sources said the government wanted the project completed on a fast-track basis as it would reduce the Lahore-Rawalpindi distance by about 100 kilometres and cut travel time by more than an hour compared to the existing Lahore-Islamabad Motorway (M-2).

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2026