M-5 motorway (Pakistan)

The approval for the Multan-Sukkur Motorway (M-5) was granted in July 2014,^[6] with an estimated cost of Rs. 200 billion (equivalent to US$2.64 billion in 2025).^[7] In May 2016, the Pakistani government awarded the contract to build this section to China State Construction Engineering,^[3] with the completion date being August 2019.^[3] Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif performed the groundbreaking on 6 May 2016,^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10] The motorway was inaugurated on 5 November 2019 in the 9th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting in Islamabad.^[11]

The total cost of the motorway was estimated to be around $2.89 billion.^[5] The Multan–Sukkur Motorway (M-5) cost approximately $2.94 billion, with the bulk of financing financed by various Chinese state-owned banks.^[12] 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.^[13]

Starting from Multan, the six-lane motorway passes through Shujabad, Jalalpur Pirwala, Ahmedpur East, Rahimyar Khan, Sadiqabad, Ubauro, and Pano Aqil before it terminates at Sukkur.^[5] The project consists of 54 bridges, including one major bridge on the river Sutlej. The motorway has 12 service areas, 10 rest areas, 11 interchanges, 10 flyovers, and 426 underpasses.^[14]