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M-5 motorway
ایم ٥ موٹروے
Multan–Sukkur Motorway
Route information
Maintained by National Highway Authority
Length	392 km (244 mi)
Existed	2018; 6 years ago (2018)–present
Major junctions
North end	Multan
South end	Sukkur
Location
Country	Pakistan
Major cities	Shujabad Jalalpur Pirwala Bahawalpur Rahim Yar Khan Sadiqabad Ghotki Pano Aqil Rohri
Highway system
Roads in Pakistan
← M-4 → M-6

The M-5 motorway (Urdu: ایم ٥ موٹروے), also known as Multan–Sukkur Motorway (Urdu: ملتان سکھر موٹروے), is a north–south motorway in Pakistan, which connects Multan with Sukkur. The motorway is a 392 km long, high-speed (120 km/h), controlled-access, six-lane motorway that forms part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. It is currently the longest motorway in Pakistan.

History

The approval for the Multan-Sukkur Motorway (M-5) was granted in July 2014, with an estimated cost of Rs. 200 billion (equivalent to US$2.5 billion in 2023). In May 2016, the Pakistani government awarded the contract to build this section to China State Construction Engineering, with the completion date being August 2019. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif performed the groundbreaking on 6 May 2016, 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. 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. The motorway was inaugurated on 5 November 2019 in the 9th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting in Islamabad.

Cost and financing

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

Route

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. 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.

Interchanges

M-5 Motorway Junctions
Interchange	Junction	South-bound exits
Shershah Interchange		Start of motorway
		Bahawalpur Road
Shujaabad Interchange		Lodhran Road
Jalalpur Pirwala Interchange		Lodhran Road
Jhangra Interchange		Bahawalpur-DHA N-5
Uch Sharif Interchange		Alipur Rd
Tarinda		Tarinda Muhammad Panah Road
Zahir Pir Interchange		Chachran Sharif Road
Rahim Yar Khan Toll Plaza		Rahim Yar Khan N-5
Guddu Interchange		Sadiqabad Kashmore Road
Ghotki Interchange		JDW Unit 3 Sugar Mill Road
Pano Aqil Interchange		Local Road
Sukkur-Rorhi Interchange		Rohri/Sukkur N-5

References

1. "M5 motorway Length". nha.gov.pk. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
2. "Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5)". National Highway Authority. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
3. ^ "China's CSCEC to build $2.9bn motorway in Pakistan as part of planned 'corridor'". Global Construction Review. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
4. "A safer, greener motorway in Pakistan". SMEC Foundation. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
5. ^ Abbas, Ghulam (24 September 2019). "Multan-Sukkur motorway inauguration delayed as China wants grand opening". Profit by Pakistan Today. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
6. "Karachi to Lahore motorway project approved". Dawn. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
7. "Karachi-Lahore motorway: Project to be completed in 3 years". The Express Tribune. 28 January 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
8. "PM performs groundbreaking of Sukkur-Multan Motorway". The Express Tribune. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
9. "Economic corridor: China to extend assistance at 1.6 percent interest rate – Business Recorder". Business Recorder. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
10. "Sukkur-Multan motorway hallmark of China-Pakistan friendship". Daily Times. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
11. "Multan-Sukkur Motorway inaugurated at 9th JCC: Gwadar Master Plan approved and Two MoUs signed: Joint Project Financing Group formed to take forward ML-I: CPEC a gateway for progress and prosperity for a bright future: Khusro Bakhtyar | China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Official Website". cpec.gov.pk. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
12. "Karachi-Lahore motorway: Project to be completed in 3 years". Pakistan Tribune. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015. 700 Billion Pak rupees = $6.6 billion USD as of December 16, 2015
13. Haider, Mehtab (28 May 2014). "Govt allocates Rs73 billion for Pakistan-China trade corridor". The News International. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
14. Rafique, Faisal (6 May 2016). "PM Nawaz Sharif inaugurates Multan-Sukkur motorway". Geo News. Retrieved 6 May 2016.

v t e Motorways of Pakistan
Completed	M-1 M-2 M-3 M-4 M-5 M-8 M-9 M-10 M-11 M-14 M-15 M-16
Under Construction	M-6 M-12 M-13
Planned	M-7 Peshawar-D.I. Khan motorway Peshawar-Kabul motorway

v t e Roads in Pakistan
National Highways	N-5 N-10 N-15 N-25 N-30 N-35 N-40 N-45 N-50 N-55 N-65 N-70 N-75 N-80 N-85 N-90 N-95 N-105 N-110 N-120 N-125 N-155 N-255 N-305 N-445 N-655 Strategic Highways S-1 S-2 S-3
Motorways	M-1 M-2 M-3 M-4 M-5 M-6 M-7 M-8 M-9 M-10 M-11 M-12 M-13 M-14 M-15 M-16 Dir–Chitral Lahore–Sahiwal–Bahawalnagar Peshawar-Kabul
Expressways	E-1 E-2 E-3 E-4 E-5 E-35 E-75 Faisalabad Canal Expressway Lai Expressway Lyari Expressway Malir Expressway Mauripur Expressway Gwadar East Bay Expressway Mansehra-Muzaffarabad-Mirpur-Mangla Expressway Peshawar Northern Bypass
Provincial Highways	AJK BL GB ICT KP PJ SN

• Motorways in Pakistan
• Roads in Pakistan
• China–Pakistan Economic Corridor