LAHORE, Feb 21: The Asian Development Bank will provide a financial assistance of $225 million for widening roads in the Punjab under the Pakistan Road Sector Project.

Talks between the government and the bank in this respect have already been completed.

Communications and Works Minister Muhammad Tariq told a consultancy mission of the ADB, led by its senior project specialist Hans Carlson, here on Thursday the government planned to spend $550 million under the project. Some $225 million would be spent to broaden seven provincial and 25 rural link roads, including the Pindi Bhattian-Chiniot road, the Jhang-Toba Tek Singh-Chichawa-tni road, the Faisalabad-Sargodha-Khushab road, the Faisalabad-Tandlianwala-Okara road and Kabirwala-Mahnisiyal road on N-5 besides widening of 36 kilometre long under-construction part of the Wazirabad-Sambrial-Sialkot road and the remaining parts of Jhang-Shorkot road.

The government had been negotiating a loan for the project with ADB for several months. — Staff Reporter