Federal Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan has announced plans for a new motorway Lahore to Rawalpindi corridor by linking Kharian with Rawalpindi, a route he said should shorten the Lahore–Rawalpindi journey by about 100 kilometres. Speaking at the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), a business body representing local traders and industry, he said the same project should also cut travel time between Lahore and Islamabad from three and a half hours to around two and a half hours.
What the Kharian–Rawalpindi link would do
According to the minister, the proposed highway would knit together major Punjab cities along the corridor, including Gujranwala, Gujrat, Lalamusa, Kharian and Jhelum. The aim, he said, is better regional connectivity for daily commuters and for transporters who move goods across northern Punjab. In practical terms, a shorter path between Lahore and Rawalpindi would mean less time on the road for passengers and freight once the link is built and opened.
The announcement describes a planned project, not a road already open to traffic. Details such as a full construction timetable, exact alignment drawings and opening dates were not set out in the remarks summarised here.
Other road projects named by the minister
Alongside the Kharian–Rawalpindi highway, Aleem Khan pointed to several other infrastructure plans. These include expanding the Lahore–Sialkot Motorway to six lanes and building new highways that would connect Lahore with Gujranwala and with Sahiwal. The government, he added, is also planning to upgrade the Grand Trunk (GT) Road—the historic main artery running through many Punjab towns—into a six-lane highway.
He said the Pindi Bhattian Motorway is being developed at a cost of Rs15 billion, while Rs5 billion has been allocated to remodel T-Chowk. Work is also under way to redesign Chungi No. 26 near Islamabad Airport. Separately, he noted that the National Highway Authority (NHA), the federal body that builds and maintains national highways and motorways, had raised its annual revenue by Rs100 billion over the past year. The authority is also pursuing the Karachi–Sukkur Motorway and an eight-lane motorway that would give Karachi Port a dedicated route for container traffic.
Funding scale for the wider road programme
Aleem Khan said the communications ministry needs Rs3 trillion to finish 66 development projects meant to strengthen Pakistan’s road network and support economic activity. That figure covers the broader portfolio he described, not a cost estimate for the Kharian–Rawalpindi stretch alone.
Taken together, the remarks frame a new motorway Lahore to Rawalpindi option via Kharian as one piece of a larger roads agenda spanning Punjab and other provinces. How quickly individual schemes move from announcement to construction will depend on funding, design and execution that were not detailed in this briefing.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Wazir Abdul Aleem Khan ne Kharian se Rawalpindi tak nayi highway ka plan bataya hai. Is se Lahore aur Rawalpindi ke darmiyan fasla lagbhag 100 kilometre kam hone ki umeed hai. Lahore se Islamabad ka safar teen dedh ghante se ghat kar lagbhag do dedh ghante reh sakta hai. Abhi yeh plan hai; khuli sarak ka elaan nahi hua.
