Construction conglomerate Bahria Town will give Rs42 billion loan to Sindh government for Karachi Metro Bus project.
This was decided in a high level meeting, where Asif Ali Zardari, Bahria Town Chairman Malik Riaz, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and members of the provincial cabinet unanimously approved the Karachi Metro Bus project.
According to a press release, the meeting called for early completion of the bus service that will be run by Daewoo, on the lines of ones launched in Lahore and Islamabad.
The 54-kilometre long two routes of the bus service will connect Super Highway on the outskirts of the city with Merewether Tower at the start of MA Jinnah Road and II Chundrigar Road in the business and financial hub of Karachi and Super Highway with airport via Malir Cantt.
The estimated cost of the grand infrastructure project is around Rs70 billion. Bahria Town has agreed to give Rs42 billion to Sindh government on a 154-year loan to complete the project.
Sindh government will seek Rs20 billion from the federal government and invest Rs8 billion from its own resources.
The provincial government has completed the feasibility study, acquired environmental impact assessment report from the Environmental Protection Agency and finalised the design of the project in the last three months, the press release said.
The Sindh government has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Daewoo bus company which will run its hybrid buses on the route along with all the operational matters to ensure high quality service, as par the press release.
