RAWALPINDI: More than three months into the new fiscal year, work has yet to formally begin on the Rawalpindi–Kahuta Road, as the federal government allocated only Rs1 billion for the project this year against a revised cost of about Rs23.5 billion.
The meagre allocation means the 28.4-kilometre dual-carriageway, including the Sihala railway crossing overpass and the Kahuta Bypass, is now expected to be delayed by several more years.
A project approved in 2023, barely moved since
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the Rawalpindi–Kahuta Road on July 27, 2023. More than three years later, only about one kilometre of the 28.4km road has been completed.
Last fiscal year, work remained limited to a roughly one-kilometre stretch between Kahuta and Hothla Stop, while a partially developed Kahuta Bypass route was prepared before construction was suspended altogether.
Budget documents put total expenditure on the project at Rs6.587 billion by June 30, 2026, with Rs16.958 billion carried forward. The total cost has meanwhile been revised upward to about Rs23.545 billion, from Rs23.845 billion estimated in the 2025-26 budget documents.
What the road was supposed to deliver
The project has three main components: the dual-carriageway from Soan to Kahuta, a four-lane overpass at the Sihala railway crossing, and the Sihala and Kahuta bypasses.
The road is considered strategically important because it links the garrison city of Rawalpindi with two routes to Azad Kashmir. Commuters and goods transport currently rely on congested single-carriageway stretches, and the Sihala railway crossing is a well-known bottleneck where traffic can be held up for long periods.
Local residents and traders have waited years for the project, and the fresh delay is likely to add to frustration in Kahuta and surrounding areas, where the half-built bypass stands as a reminder of stalled promises.
Funding squeeze, familiar story
The Kahuta Road is not the only infrastructure project struggling for funds. Across the country, development schemes approved with fanfare have slowed as the federal budget tightens and releases are staggered.
The contrast with completed projects is sharp. In Peshawar, the Hayatabad underpass opened to traffic after 90 days of construction, easing one of the city’s worst congestion points here. The difference, officials admit privately, often comes down to which projects get consistent funding releases and which do not.
Questions are also being raised about spending priorities. The Cabinet Division recently defended a Rs6 billion purchase of bulletproof vehicles for the 2027 SCO summit here, six times what has been allocated this year for the entire Kahuta Road.
What happens next
With only Rs1 billion available this fiscal year, officials concede that meaningful progress is unlikely before the next budget. At the current pace of releases, the project’s completion could slip several more years beyond its already revised timeline. Transporters say the deteriorating road surface is already adding to vehicle maintenance costs on the route.
For now, commuters on the Rawalpindi–Kahuta route face more years of congestion at Sihala and on the unfinished bypass, waiting on a road that was approved in 2023 and has barely moved since.
