The Sambrial-Kharian motorway is 21 per cent complete, and the National Highway Authority aims to finish it six months before its original 2028 deadline. Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan gave the update while chairing an NHA meeting on Tuesday, October 28, and ordered faster progress on road repairs across the network. The Sambrial-Kharian motorway target is now the clearest timetable the project has had in public.
Officials told the meeting that the Sambrial-Kharian Motorway, known as M-12, stands at 21 per cent completion. Finishing six months early would bring the road into use in the first half of 2028 rather than at the end of that year, though the minister did not announce a revised month for opening.
What else the minister ordered
Khan ordered the NHA to clear encroachments from its land and to speed up road repairs, including patchwork on the Lahore-Gujranwala section of the GT Road. He called for the immediate rehabilitation of National Highway N-5 and faster progress on ongoing infrastructure projects.
The minister also called for better-maintained rest areas, greener motorway surroundings and improvements to the appearance of national highways. To assess progress directly, he decided to visit ongoing development projects in Faisalabad and other cities. His directives cover land clearance, road maintenance and construction timelines, with the NHA tasked with addressing outstanding work and improving highway facilities.
What the Sambrial-Kharian motorway will change
The update matters because the motorway is a major shortcut for travel between Lahore and the north. As Feature Pakistan reported earlier in October, the Sambrial-Kharian motorway will cut 100 kilometres off the Lahore trip and save more than an hour of travel time, according to figures the minister gave at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. An early finish would bring that saving forward by six months.
The 21 per cent figure also sets the scale of the task. With just under four-fifths of the work still to go, the early-finish target will depend on the pace of construction from here, on land clearance, and on the road repairs the minister ordered alongside it. Those are the practical tests of Tuesday’s announcement, and they will show up in future progress reports before any opening date is fixed.
Road projects in the same picture
The motorway update comes in a busy period for road projects in Punjab. Feature Pakistan has also covered the Rawalpindi Ring Road opening being delayed for a sixth time and a 52-kilometre diversion on the M-4 between Faisalabad and Pindi Bhattian for repair work. Set against those two items, the M-12 announcement is the more positive note: a project with a completion target being pulled forward, rather than a delay or a closure.
What happens next
The next markers to watch are the minister’s visits to projects in Faisalabad and other cities, the next published completion figure for M-12, and any revised opening month. If the completion share rises steadily from 21 per cent, the six-months-early target will gain credibility. If it stalls, the 2028 deadline itself will come back into focus.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Sambrial-Kharian motorway?
It is the M-12 motorway linking Sambrial and Kharian, designed to shorten the route between Lahore and Rawalpindi by 100 kilometres and save more than an hour of travel time.
How complete is it?
Officials told the NHA meeting on October 28 that the project is 21 per cent complete.
When will it finish?
The original deadline is 2028, and the NHA now aims to finish six months before that deadline. No revised opening month has been announced.
What other road work did the minister order?
Clearance of encroachments from NHA land, patchwork on the Lahore-Gujranwala section of the GT Road, immediate rehabilitation of National Highway N-5, and better-maintained rest areas.
