Rs365bn proposed for communication sector

ISLAMABAD: For the upgradation and improvement of communication sector, the government has proposed an allocation of 365 billion rupees in the budget, which is 9. 6 percent higher than the outgoing financial year. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, in his budget speech for the next fiscal year, stated that 100 billion rupees had been proposed for the 813-kilometer-longN-25 which connects Karachi to the Chaman border with Afghanistan via Quetta while 30 billion rupees would be allocated for the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway (M-6). The finance minister said that through new financing by the Asian Development Bank, the ML-1 upgradation remains a strategic priority for railway modernization and the development of an integrated transport corridor. For the Karachi-Rohri section under ML-1, 25 billion rupees had been allocated. He said to make transportation of goods more efficient and for improving basic infrastructure of the Gwadar Port and for the provincial road projects, 93 billion rupees had been allocated. For the Thar Coal Connectivity Project, 2 billion rupees had been proposed. The government has proposed an allocation of 224. 5 billion rupees for the ongoing and new projects of the NHA. Major allocations proposed for the Lahore-Sahiwal-Bahawalpur Motorway (295 km)/Construction of Lahore Ring Road to Raja Jang to Kasur Road (18 km) 2 billion rupees have been proposed and for the construction of the dual Sialkot-Eminabad Road up to Kamoki including link to Motorway 2 billion rupees and for the construction of Khawazakhela-Besham expressway 1 billion rupees have been proposed. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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