The Works & Services Department, Government of Sindh (Pakistan), and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) have signed a concession agreement for constructing the National Highway (N-5) expressway between Karachi - Thatta in PPP mode.

The project involves construction of a 49.5 km two-lane dual road between Gaghar Phatak through the National Highway to the start of the Thatta bypass/toll plaza. This includes construction of an additional carriageway with a median width of 7.9 m between existing carriageways along with improvement and rehabilitation of existing highway with new bridges and culverts.

The project will be developed on a design, build, finance, operation and maintenance (DBFOM) basis. The contract term is 27 years including 2 years of design and construction.

The total cost includes Rs7.499 billion (US$73.3 million) for construction and Rs2.460 billion (US$24 million) for project development. As for the financial structure, 70% of the project cost will be arranged through commercial loans;  the government of Sindh will inject the minority equity of 14% and developers equity will be 16%.

Chief Minister of Sindh, Qaim Ali Shah, said that the Karachi-Thatta dual carriageway was the most important project linking the Thatta - Mithi road to the Islamkot and Thar coalfield areas, covering a total road length of 296 km.

FWO Director General, Muhammad Afzal Khan, added that the Karachi-Thatta dual road would be completed in a year once work starts on the ground. He said financial close for the project was expected by the end July 2015.