ADB Moves Toward $1.1 Billion Financing for ML-1 Railway After Pakistan Dropped It From CPEC

The Asian Development Bank is finalising a $1.1 billion investment programme to rebuild the 480km Karachi-Rohri section of Pakistan Railways' Main Line-1 (ML-1), Dawn reported on October 1. The financing comes three months after the federal government said it had taken the project out of CPEC.

What the ADB is putting on the table

Of the $1.1 billion package, $1 billion would come from the ADB's ordinary capital resources and $100 million from its concessional lending, according to Dawn. The programme is meant to fund climate-resilient infrastructure along the line, modernised signalling and operations, and capacity-building for Pakistan Railways, with completion aimed for 2040.

The ADB approved project-readiness financing in 2025 and is considering follow-on multi-tranche financing. A fact-finding mission is planned for January 2027 to assess environmental, social, land, labour and climate risks with the federal government and the Sindh government, which the Karachi-Rohri stretch runs through.

The government's own numbers

Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi has put the cost of the Karachi-Rohri upgrade at about $2.5 billion, with completion targeted within three years, Dawn reported. He said the 183km Nawabshah-Rohri section would be prioritised and asked the ADB to speed up approval of the central investment loan. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, meeting ADB Vice President Yingming Yang in Islamabad, stressed the need to start work on ML-1 early.

Abbasi said Pakistan intends to keep working with the ADB and other partners to finance the Rohri-Peshawar sections.

From a Chinese megaproject to a multilateral one

ML-1 had been planned under CPEC at an estimated cost of $7.7 billion. On July 3, 2026, Economic Affairs Secretary Hameer Karim told the Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs that the project had been separated from CPEC and that the government would seek funding from the ADB and other international lenders, ProPakistani reported. The project had faced repeated delays over financing and cost negotiations.

Other CPEC work is continuing, including the Karakoram Highway rebuild launched at September's 14th Joint Cooperation Committee meeting.

The wider financing picture

The ADB package arrives as Pakistan separately works to deepen its local-currency bond market for retail investors under an IMF-linked plan announced in September. The ADB held its FY2027 growth forecast for Pakistan at 3.7% in September while flagging energy-price risk.

What to watch

The January 2027 fact-finding mission is the next checkpoint. Financing for the remaining Rohri-Peshawar sections has not yet been arranged.

Build Better Pakistan's Economy Desk tracks major infrastructure financing and its implications for Pakistan's public debt and growth outlook.