Overview
- The Khyber‑Pakhtunkhwa Public‑Private Partnership Committee approved the Dir Motorway in principle in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi, a decision taken on Saturday that clears preparatory steps.
- The project is a 29‑kilometre route from Chakdara Interchange to Baroon in Lower Dir district with an estimated cost of Rs69 billion.
- Afridi ordered officials to begin land acquisition right away and to set clear implementation timelines for the motorway to move the scheme from planning toward execution.
- The chief minister also asked departments to propose amendments to the province’s PPP framework to shorten procurement and delivery times and the PPP meeting reviewed progress on the Peshawar–Dera Ismail Khan and Swat Motorway Phase‑II projects.
- Final construction still depends on negotiated PPP contracts, private financing, regulatory clearances and environmental and social safeguards, with those steps now the key milestones to watch for local travel times, fuel costs and tourism benefits.