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M-5 motorway
M-5 motorway
ایم ٥ موٹروے
Multan–Sukkur Motorway
Route information
	Maintained by National Highway Authority
Length	392 km (244 mi)
Existed	2018; 7 years ago–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;

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,^[2] high-speed (120 km/h), controlled-access, six-lane motorway that forms part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.^[3]^[4] It is currently the longest motorway in Pakistan.^[5]

History

The approval for the Multan-Sukkur Motorway (M-5) was granted in July 2014,^[6] with an estimated cost of Rs. 200 billion (equivalent to US$2.5 billion in 2023).^[7] In May 2016, the Pakistani government awarded the contract to build this section to China State Construction Engineering,^[3] with the completion date being August 2019.^[3] Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif performed the groundbreaking on 6 May 2016,^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10] The motorway was inaugurated on 5 November 2019 in the 9th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting in Islamabad.^[11]

Cost and financing

The total cost of the motorway was estimated to be around $2.89 billion.^[5]The Multan–Sukkur Motorway (M-5) cost approximately $2.94 billion, with the bulk of financing financed by various Chinese state-owned banks.^[12] 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.^[13]

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.^[5] 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.^[14]

Interchanges

Interchange	Junction	South-bound exits
M-5 Motorway Junctions
Shershah Interchange		Start of motorway
Shershah Interchange		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