Pakistan explores private financing for Rohri-Multan ML-1 section after China declines to fund full project

Pakistan is weighing private investment as a way to upgrade the Rohri-Multan stretch of the ML-1 railway, a section whose cost is put at more than Rs450 billion, now that China will not fund the whole project. Profit reported that the first phase, which runs from Karachi to Rohri and Sukkur, is set for backing from international lenders led by the Asian Development Bank, with an estimated $2.5 billion outlay and civil works targeted to start in January 2027. Co-financing from the World Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Islamic Development Bank is also under consideration.

Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal chaired a session on Friday at the P-Block Secretariat, where a committee formed on the prime minister's instructions reviewed financing routes for completing ML-1. The options discussed included the Public Sector Development Programme, foreign loans, public-private partnerships and funding from local banks and domestic capital markets. Officials also presented a Frontier Works Organization plan that would bring private money into the Rohri-Multan stretch, with the cost confirmed at more than Rs450 billion.

The meeting heard that the line's condition has deteriorated, with 399 derailments and 158 accidents logged over the past decade because of poor infrastructure. A credible, independent third party will be tasked with a full feasibility study to evaluate whether the project is technically, financially and economically workable.