China’s SPGEC in JV wins contract for section of CPEC’s M-8 motorway

National Highway Authority (NHA) on Monday declared a joint venture between two Pakistani firms and China’s Geological Engineering Complex (SPGEC) as the ‘most advantageous’ bidder for the construction of a section of Ratodero-Gwadar motorway (M-8) under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

SPGEC in JV offered to construct package 2B of 168 kilometres Awaran-Nall section of the Hoshab-Awaran-Khuzdar missing link in the M-8 motorway at the lowest cost of Rs 9.18 billion, NHA said in a statement. As per Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules, NHA has to award the contract to the most advantageous bidder in two weeks.

The section is part of the project to construct a two-lane motorway facility from Hoshab to Khuzdar in Balochistan.

The project road starts from Awaran and terminates at Basima-Khuzdar Road (N-30) in Nall area near Khuzdar. M-8 will follow the alignment of N-30 after Nall to connect with the Ratodero-Khuzdar section of M-8 at Khuzdar, which is already operational, NHA said.

N-30 is currently under construction as part of the Rs400 billion Balochistan Development Package announced by the federal government as part of CPEC to connect Gwadar with the eastern parts of the province as well as Iran.

M-8 is an 892-kilometre-long east-west motorway connecting the Sukkur and Larkana areas of Sindh to Gwadar. Out of the 892 kilometres, 492 kilometres sections, the Ratodero-Khuzdar (242 kilometres) and Hoshab-Turbat-Gwadar (250 kilometres), have already been constructed and operational, NHA said. The hoshab-Khuzdar section is the missing link to complete M-8 in which NHA has already taken up the Hoshab-Awaran section (148 kilometres). After completion of the missing link (Hoshab-Awaran-Nall), M-8 will provide the shortest route to Gwadar, NHA said.