By Abdul Ghani

The expenditure on four ongoing road projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Balochistan’s western zone has reached Rs54.9 billion against a total allocation of Rs83.2 billion, according to a document available with Wealth Pakistan.

The projects, funded under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for 2020-21 to 2026-27, cover a combined 718 kilometres of roads.

They include the 146-km Hoshab-Awaran section of the M-8 motorway, the 168-km Awaran-Naal section of the M-8, the 106-km Basima-Khuzdar section of the N-30 and the 298-km Zhob-Kuchlak section of the N-50.

According to the document, of the Rs18.30 billion allocated for the Hoshab-Awaran section, Rs9.75 billion has been spent. The Awaran-Naal section has received an allocation of Rs27.28 billion, with Rs20.45 billion shown under releases/expenditure.

For the Basima-Khuzdar N-30 project, Rs12.97 billion has been spent out of the total Rs13.75 billion allocation. The Zhob-Kuchlak N-50 project has been allocated Rs23.85 billion, while Rs11.707 billion has been released/spent.

An analysis of the figures shows that the combined Rs54.9 billion in releases/expenditure represents roughly 66% of the Rs83.2 billion allocation.

The Basima-Khuzdar section shows the highest utilisation relative to its allocation, at about 94%, followed by Awaran-Naal at roughly 75%. Hoshab-Awaran stands at approximately 53%, while Zhob-Kuchlak is the lowest at around 49%.

The funding pattern is particularly significant for Balochistan because these road sections form part of the wider CPEC connectivity network linking the province and Gwadar with other regions of Pakistan.

An accompanying official CPEC alignment map identifies four principal alignments — Common, Western, Central and Eastern. It puts the Common Alignment at 983 kilometres, Western Alignment at 1,511 kilometres, Central Alignment at 1,440 kilometres and Eastern Alignment at 1,709 kilometres.

The figures indicate that substantial public-sector resources have already been committed to CPEC's western connectivity projects. However, the roughly Rs28.3 billion difference between allocations and releases/expenditure also highlights the financing still to be translated into spending under the stated programme period.

For Balochistan, timely execution of these road links remains critical to improving inter-district connectivity and integrating relatively remote areas with the national transport network and CPEC corridors.

Credit: INP-WealthPk