Successful bidder announced to construct 184km link between M-14 & Pak-Afghan Border

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 13 (Gwadar Pro)- On Monday, the National Highway Authority (NHA) announced successful bidders for the consultancy services of the ‘feasibility study’ and ‘detailed design’ for the construction of the motorway from Ghulam Khan to Esa Khel Interchange on Motorway 14 (M-14) ─ a project of the western alignment route of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The approximate length of the Motorway is 184 Km which will link M-14 with the Pak-Afghan border via the North Waziristan tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

NHA conducted the bidding on August 26; eight proposals were received for bidding, of them five were qualified and three were disqualified under PPRA Rules & Regulations QCBS method with 80:20 Technical to Financial Proposals ratio.

M/s Zeeruk International (Pvt.) Ltd. in JV with M/s LOYA Associates, M/s Consulting Associates and M/s APEX Consulting Engineering (Sub-Consultant) has been announced as the most advantageous bidder with a 702 technical score out of 1000. None of the other four qualified bidders even hit the 700 mark.

Esa Khel Interchange is located over M-14 in Mianwali district of Punjab, which is in proximity to the Lakki Marwat district of KP; between Mianwali and Ghulam Khan falls Bannu district of KP. After Torkham and Chaman, Ghulam Khan is the third most important crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has already started benefiting from Gwadar Port and the country received the first consignment of bulk cargo from the United Arab Emirates in July 2020. Ghulam Khan crossing, at the Pak-Afghan border point, is the shortest route connecting CPEC’s western route with Afghanistan, Central Asian States, and beyond.