Pakistan, China to speed up ML-1, SEZs implementation

[ziaulislam]

This is just one thing I like about Ahsan Iqbal. Credit is due here. He is very keen and active to further CPEC. Whether it is due to personal greed is another debate.

Yes he like shahbaz like to bulldoze projects whether they make sense or not is different story

 

[maithil]

Is this new railway line economically viable? Or, will require Govt subsidies to run ? 10 Billion USD is huge amount to invest in a single line. Especially considering how Railways is run in Pakistan.

Sharifs seem to have a penchant for flashy big projects which later drains government resources.

 

[Hyde]

You will hear a good news, a lot of economic dreams just before the election

 

[Maula Jatt]

Ml-1 is a great project but as @ziaulislam said
It depends on "how" they do it

 

[Edevelop]

Is this new railway line economically viable? Or, will require Govt subsidies to run ? 10 Billion USD is huge amount to invest in a single line. Especially considering how Railways is run in Pakistan.

Sharifs seem to have a penchant for flashy big projects which later drains government resources.

The current line was built by the British. One way or another it badly needs up gradation. This line runs from Karachi to Peshwar. Why would it not be economically feasible? Karachi is the biggest metropolis of Pakistan and Pashtuns are the biggest migrants.

Moreover the line crosses Punjab, the biggest and most populated province of Pakistan where most of the economic activity takes place. Hence there is a huge demand in both passenger and freight railways. All we need to do is modernize the railways and outsource some parts of its administration and we are good to go.

Some projects by Sharifs appear flashy because our people are either fed propaganda or don't have the vision for it. I mean what would you say if someone living in big metropolises like Delhi, Shanghai or London criticized government for building metro lines?

 

[maithil]

A Capex of 10 Billion will require a certain level of operational profit to meet ROI. My query was related to this considering how loss making PR has been in last so many years. If this line does become viable, this alone will transform transport sector in Pakistan.

 

[Edevelop]

A Capex of 10 Billion will require a certain level of operational profit to meet ROI. My query was related to this considering how loss making PR has been in last so many years. If this line does become viable, this alone will transform transport sector in Pakistan.

Two parts to answer your query. 1. Railways is very rich. Doesn't reflect in the operation of railways itself but as part of the government its has the largest share of assets and its being mismanaged. I think there is like hundreds of thousands of acres of uninhabited land both urban and rural. They could either extend to other commercial business or lease or sublease or sell and invest in lines that will make it profitable. 2. Outsource its administration. Possibly on BOT (build operate transfer basis) for x number of years till profit to a private corporation

 

[Hero786]

I don't know if it is due to better communication or real proficiency but PML do seem to show meaningful progress in CPEC projects compared to PTI.

That was due to COVID, it was at peak,
said by Chinese many times.

This is just one thing I like about Ahsan Iqbal. Credit is due here. He is very keen and active to further CPEC. Whether it is due to personal greed is another debate.

PDM announced/inaugurated same projects many times,
CPEC is big example,started by Musharraf.

 

[ziaulislam]

The current line was built by the British. One way or another it badly needs up gradation. This line runs from Karachi to Peshwar. Why would it not be economically feasible? Karachi is the biggest metropolis of Pakistan and Pashtuns are the biggest migrants.

Moreover the line crosses Punjab, the biggest and most populated province of Pakistan where most of the economic activity takes place. Hence there is a huge demand in both passenger and freight railways. All we need to do is modernize the railways and outsource some parts of its administration and we are good to go.

Some projects by Sharifs appear flashy because our people are either fed propaganda or don't have the vision for it. I mean what would you say if someone living in big metropolises like Delhi, Shanghai or London criticized government for building metro lines?

Was the NJ project, ghazi brotha(probably the best of bunch)or shaiwal coal or most worse orange train economically feasible??

Economically unfeasible project is one that has ROI less then 15% apart from ghazi brotha none of the above have that

Ghazi Brotha gets into the list because you could have built munda dam three times over on that money but Punjab wouldn't be getting royalty then !!

2.6b$ orange line ! You could have built and operated 20 metros all over the country or could have developed fully electric KCR which is much bigger and craters 5x higher population

 

[Edevelop]

Was the NJ project, ghazi brotha(probably the best of bunch)or shaiwal coal or most worse orange train economically feasible??

Economically unfeasible project is one that has ROI less then 15% apart from ghazi brotha none of the above have that

Ghazi Brotha gets into the list because you could have built munda dam three times over on that money but Punjab wouldn't be getting royalty then !!

2.6b$ orange line ! You could have built and operated 20 metros all over the country or could have developed fully electric KCR which is much bigger and craters 5x higher population

The Pakistani state is not poor because of orange line metro. coal power projects or dams but because of lack of tax collection to effectively run it. This is why we had circular debt issues and what not.

Btw most metro system around the world are subsidized. Thats a whole new debate but long story short, it's not meant to be seen as a profit or a loss. I highly doubt the orange line cost $2.6B but if we assume it to be true, it is justified because Pakistan has no experience in building metro rail systems. it had to import everything from professionals to construction equipments to rail equipment as tiny as screws. When it became operationalized, they estimated 200,000 people would use it per day. Today that figure has increased and more and more people are using it. The KCR is being launched very soon. All the encroachments have cleared to start the project and it is also under CPEC.

 

[ziaulislam]

The Pakistani state is not poor because of orange line metro. coal power projects or dams but because of lack of tax collection to effectively run it. This is why we had circular debt issues and what not.

Btw most metro system around the world are subsidized. Thats a whole new debate but long story short, it's not meant to be seen as a profit or a loss. I highly doubt the orange line cost $2.6B but if we assume it to be true, it is justified because Pakistan has no experience in building metro rail systems. it had to import everything from professionals to construction equipments to rail equipment as tiny as screws. When it became operationalized, they estimated 200,000 people would use it per day. Today that figure has increased.

Because Pakistani state isn't poor let's get foreign loans through it on useless project

Then sacre away all investors and destroy the economy because of high debt causing poor rating and insolvency risks

Typical bulldozer mind set of PMLN when they decided to build Asia first motorway in 1993 at cost of 1 b$ ...cost you could have built bhasha damn with 20b unit of cheap power with similar amount produced down stream on tarbela and chasma

 

[Edevelop]

Because Pakistani state isn't poor let's get foreign loans through it on useless project

Then sacre away all investors and destroy the economy because of high debt causing poor rating and insolvency risks

Typical bulldozer mind set of PMLN when they decided to build Asia first motorway in 1993 at cost of 1 b$ ...cost you could have built bhasha damn with 20b unit of cheap power with similar amount produced down stream on tarbela and chasma

Why do you assume one project is built over another or other projects are shelved? Everything is happening simultaneously across the country from North to South. You name it from nuclear power, basha dam to ports

Yeah the motorway cost $1B in 90s. Again that's because Pakistan had no prior experience building motorways and it had to import everything to make the project. Now we are experts and it costs much less and today we are building motorways even in foreign countries lol. NLC, NESPAK etc get contracts now in Saudi and Oman. If this is not a success then what is? At the end of the day you need projects to create jobs and that's how economies grow

 

[ziaulislam]

Why do you assume one project is built over another or other projects are shelved? Everything is happening simultaneously across the country from North to South. You name it from nuclear power, basha dam to ports

Yeah the motorway cost $1B in 90s. Again that's because Pakistan had no prior experience building motorways and it had to import everything to make the project. Now we are experts and it costs much less and today we are building motorways even in foreign countries lol. NLC, NESPAK etc get contracts now in Saudi and Oman. If this is not a success then what is? At the end of the day you need projects to create jobs and that's how economies grow

It would better if you can do some math class

 

[Edevelop]

It would better if you can do some math class

If we are a capitalistic country, it's not the job of government to run businesses. Their job is to facilitate. I'll leave it at that.

 

[FuturePAF]

Is this new railway line economically viable? Or, will require Govt subsidies to run ? 10 Billion USD is huge amount to invest in a single line. Especially considering how Railways is run in Pakistan.

Sharifs seem to have a penchant for flashy big projects which later drains government resources.

The railway are a “loss leader” (required infrastructure that don’t make a profit) that are required to make SEZs located inland competitive. Also if the ML-1 is reliable and connected to a new trans-afghan railway and then the central Asian trail way network (Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in particular) and then to China, it will create a corridor for good from Russia and China to South Asia. This could cut transportation costs of cargo currently carried by trucks in the region.