LAHORE: Pakistan is seeking foreign investment for a proposed Guru Nanak Expressway, a road project officials say could improve access to Sikh heritage sites while creating an investment opportunity for the diaspora.
Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan announced the plan at a meeting of the National Highway Authority (NHA). He invited members of the Sikh community in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States to consider investing in the project. Khan said the expressway would be developed to international standards and would have religious, historical and economic importance. The announcement did not include details on the project’s cost, route or construction schedule.
The meeting also reviewed other road schemes, including the proposed Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhand-Chilas highway. Khan directed the NHA to prepare a feasibility study for a 123-kilometre Mansehra-Naran section, which he said should be developed as a model project. The proposed three-lane motorway is expected to support tourism and improve road connections towards China.
Officials also discussed construction and development work along sections of the Grand Trunk Road between Rawalpindi and Peshawar. Khan instructed the NHA to complete the Multan-Muzaffargarh-Mianwali highway within two months and to accelerate work on ongoing projects while meeting their deadlines.
The meeting approved safety barriers for the expansion of the Pindi Bhattian-Faisalabad section of the M-4 motorway. Khan also called for rest areas and washrooms on both sides of new highways, along with green belts and landscaping as standard elements of future road projects.
He said national highways and motorways should provide more than improved travel times, stressing that road safety, reliable facilities and sustainable, attractive design should also be priorities.
