NHA banks on private sector for highway projects

Looking to attract 50% of financing from private partners.

ISLAMABAD: The National Highway Authority (NHA), in line with the government’s policy, has brought private sector on board for completing highway projects and with the passage of time public-private partnership (PPP) is becoming an essential part of its development strategy.

“The government has set an ambitious road development programme. Budget allocations will be sufficient to meet almost 50% of the target, the rest has to come from off-budget financing through PPP,” an NHA official told APP on Monday.

Under the NHA Act 1991, the NHA is empowered to initiate, operate and award projects with the help of private sector financing, he said.

In accordance with these powers, the NHA has taken initiatives including establishment of a private sector cell for providing one-window facility for PPP projects, development of a PPP policy, legal framework and standard operating procedures for handling partnership projects at all stages.

Apart from these, the NHA has standardised its documents, ie, pre-qualification criterion, request for proposals including evaluation criteria and concession agreement.

Lakpass Tunnel became the first major NHA project undertaken on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis in Balochistan and has been operating for the past five years.

Earlier, 10 service areas were built on the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway on BOT basis for a 15-year concession period.

Future BOT projects include Shahdara Flyover (N-5), a six-lane elevated flyover at Shahdara in Lahore with 25-year concession period, Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (M-9) by converting existing four-lane highway into a six-lane motorway, Lahore-Nankana Sahib Expressway, connecting road network for the New Benazir Bhutto International Airport and overlay and modernisation of Lahore-Islamabad Motorway (M-2) through application of Total Solution/Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) to the existing 350km-long six-lane motorway.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2014.

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