The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to finance upgrades to Pakistan’s ageing railway system after prolonged delays in Chinese funding, raising concerns over the future of a key mining project, Reuters reported on Friday.
The $2 billion upgrade of a 500-km section of the Karachi–Rohri line was originally part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the centrepiece of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative in Pakistan. But a decade of negotiations with China failed to secure financing for the broader $60 billion programme’s single biggest project.
Two sources told Reuters that the ADB is now in advanced talks to lead a consortium that will fund the upgrade and bring in an international contractor through a competitive bidding process. The announcement is expected later this month.
Officials said the project has become urgent because the line is needed to transport copper ore from the Reko Diq mine in Balochistan, being developed by Canada’s Barrick Gold. “We will have a crisis. How will you evacuate output from Reko Diq? The exhausted line will come under even more pressure,” one senior government official warned.
Earlier this week, the ADB also announced $410 million in financing for Reko Diq itself, and its president is scheduled to visit Islamabad next week. The mine, one of the world’s largest untapped copper deposits, is expected to begin production in 2028 and generate an estimated $70 billion in free cash flow over its lifespan.
China rolled out power plants, roads, and port facilities after the 2015 launch of CPEC, but momentum has since slowed amid mounting Pakistani debt, repeated rescheduling of loans, and worsening security in Balochistan, where Chinese projects and workers have increasingly been targeted.
Baloch armed groups have long opposed foreign investment in the region, describing it as exploitation of local resources. The Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS), an alliance of “pro-independence” armed groups, warned in a recent statement that “no foreign power will be allowed to exploit Baloch resources in collaboration with Pakistan.” The group said such projects were “unacceptable under any circumstances” and threatened to target any company or investor working with the Pakistani state.