The M-5 motorway (), also known as Multan–Sukkur Motorway (), is a north–south

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, which connects

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

with

Sukkur Sukkur is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh along the western bank of the Indus River, directly across from the historic city of Rohri. Sukkur is the List of cities in Sindh by population, third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and H ...

. The motorway is a 392 km long, high-speed (120 km/h),

controlled-access A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

, six-lane motorway that forms part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. It is currently the longest motorway in Pakistan.

History

The approval for the Multan-Sukkur Motorway (M-5) was granted in July 2014, with an estimated cost of Rs. 200 billion (equivalent to US$ billion in ). In May 2016, the

Pakistani government The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia ...

awarded the contract to build this section to

China State Construction Engineering The China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC; ) is a Chinese state-owned construction company headquartered in Beijing. It is the largest construction company in the world by revenue and the 8th largest general contractor in terms ...

, with the completion date being August 2019. Former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then ...

performed the

groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, turf-cutting, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such cer ...

on 6 May 2016, while the actual ground work started in August 2016. The M-5 motorway project forms a cornerstone of the much-larger

China–Pakistan Economic Corridor China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC; zh, c=中巴经济走廊, p=Zhōng bā jīngjì zǒuláng; ) is a 3,000 km Chinese infrastructure network project currently under construction in Pakistan. This sea-and-land-based corridor aims to ...

. Construction covered 21 Chinese residential camps and 23 Pakistani workers camps with hundreds of working sites, directly providing jobs to nearly 30,000 Pakistanis at peak time. The motorway was inaugurated on 5 November 2019 in the 9th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting in Islamabad.

Cost and financing

The total cost of the motorway was estimated to be around $2.89 billion.The Multan–Sukkur Motorway (M-5) cost approximately $2.94 billion, with the bulk of financing financed by various Chinese state-owned banks. 90% of the project's cost was financed through concessionary loans on interest rates of 1.6% from China, while the remaining balance is financed by government of Pakistan.

Route

Starting from

, the six-lane motorway passes through

Shujabad Shujaabad () is a city and the capital of Shujabad Tehsil of Multan District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located in south off Multan. Chenab River flows in the west of the city. Neighbouring settlements include Jalalpur Pirw ...

, Jalalpur Pirwala,

Ahmedpur East Ahmedpur East (also known as Ahmadpur Sharqia) is a historic city located in the Bahawalpur District of southern Punjab, Pakistan. As of the 2023 census, the city has a population of approximately 196,618, making it the 69th largest city in Pak ...

, Rahimyar Khan, Sadiqabad, Ubauro, and

Pano Aqil Pano Aqil (), is a tehsil of Sukkur District in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is located approximately north of the city of Sukkur. It consists of 12 union councils According to 2017 Census of Pakistan The 2017 Census of Pakistan was a ...

before it terminates at

. The project consists of 54 bridges, including one major bridge on the river

Sutlej The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of t ...

. The motorway has 12 service areas, 10 rest areas, 11 interchanges, 10 flyovers, and 426 underpasses.

Interchanges

References

{{Roads in Pakistan M05 M5 China–Pakistan Economic Corridor