ISLAMABAD: Executive Committee of the National Economic Council has approved four projects worth 289 billion rupees for construction of national highways in different parts of the country.

The ECNEC, which met in Islamabad today (Thursday) with Prime Minister's Advisor on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the chair, gave go-ahead to these projects. They include construction of 306-KM long Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway at a cost of over 165 billion rupees, 47.55-KM Khyber Pass Economic Corridor Project at a cost of over 77 billion rupees, 146-KM Hoshab-Awaran-Khuzdar Section of M-8 Project, and land acquisition for Swat Motorway Phase-II at a cost of 20 billion rupees.

The Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway project to be completed on Built Operate Transfer basis envisages construction of 306 kilometer-long, six-lane wide, access-controlled motorway.

The project alignment passes through Jamshoro, Tando Adam, Hala, Shahdadpur, Nawabshah, Moro, Dadu, Naushahro Feroze, Mehrabpur, Rasoolpur, Larakana, Khairpur and Sukkur.

The Khyber Pass Economic Corridor project consists of two components involving construction of Peshawar-Torkham Motorway and link road connecting motorway to Badabher (N-55) intersecting N-5 between Chamkani and Jhagra.

Hoshab-Awaran-Khuzdar Section of M-8 project envisages construction of 146 km long road from Hoshab to Awarn.

The Swat Motorway Phase-II project envisages acquisition of 10,000 kanals of land for construction of four-lane motorway from Chakdara to Fatehpur.