ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (ABC): Four ongoing road projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Balochistan’s western zone have recorded Rs54.9 billion in releases and expenditure against a combined allocation of Rs83.2 billion.
According to official documents available with Wealth Pakistan, the projects are listed under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the period from 2020-21 to 2026-27. Together, they cover a road length of 718 kilometres.
The projects include the 146-kilometre Hoshab-Awaran and 168-kilometre Awaran-Naal sections of the M-8. They also include the 106-kilometre Basima-Khuzdar section of the N-30 and the 298-kilometre Zhob-Kuchlak section of the N-50.
CPEC road projects receive funding across four sections
According to the documents, the Hoshab-Awaran section has an allocation of Rs18.30 billion. Of this amount, Rs9.75 billion has been recorded under releases/expenditure.
The Awaran-Naal section has received an allocation of Rs27.28 billion, with Rs20.45 billion recorded under releases/expenditure.
Meanwhile, the Basima-Khuzdar N-30 project has recorded Rs12.97 billion in releases/expenditure against an allocation of Rs13.75 billion.
The Zhob-Kuchlak N-50 project has an allocation of Rs23.85 billion, while releases/expenditure stand at Rs11.707 billion.
Releases and expenditure reach 66% of allocations
An analysis of the official figures shows that the combined Rs54.9 billion in releases/expenditure represents approximately 66% of the total Rs83.2 billion allocation.
Among the four projects, the Basima-Khuzdar section has the highest ratio of releases/expenditure to allocation, at approximately 94%. Awaran-Naal follows at around 75%.
The corresponding ratio stands at approximately 53% for Hoshab-Awaran and 49% for Zhob-Kuchlak.
The figures also show a difference of approximately Rs28.3 billion between the combined allocations and the amounts recorded under releases/expenditure.
Projects form part of wider CPEC road network
The official document identifies these schemes as ongoing road projects under CPEC in Balochistan’s western zone.
An accompanying CPEC alignment map identifies four principal alignments: Common, Western, Central and Eastern.
According to the map, the Common Alignment extends over 983 kilometres, while the Western Alignment covers 1,511 kilometres. The Central and Eastern alignments extend over 1,440 kilometres and 1,709 kilometres, respectively.
The four Balochistan road projects form part of the wider CPEC road connectivity framework. The official figures provide a breakdown of their allocations and cumulative releases/expenditure under the stated PSDP period.
