Lahore: The Pakistan Railways administration on Thursday announced that it had finalised the documents to open bids for the up-gradation of the Main Line-1 (ML-1) track, a news source reported. According to details, the department intends to publicise the invitation bids for the project this week.
Sources revealed that the up-gradation of ML-1 track was divided into three separate packages: Nawabshah to Rohri/Sukkur, Multan to Lahore & Walton Academy, and Lahore to Lalamusa & Kaluwal to Pindora packages.
Moreover, the Railways Ministry would seek expression of interest for these packages from eligible Chinese firms. Meanwhile, the details on financing remain unclear. The invitation bids stated that project funding would be under the CPEC financing arrangement via loan from Chinese Financial Institutions and partially by the Government of Pakistan.
On the other hand, the railways department has set a deadline of October 22 for the submission of bids for the ML-1 project. As per details, it is Pakistan’s first and biggest transport sector project with a cost of USD 6.8 billion. Under the proposal approved by ECNEC, the federal government will provide 10% of this cost and China will invest the remaining 90%. Meanwhile, Pakistan Railways has completed the land acquisition required for the Lalamusa-Pindora section.
