Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday emphasized the critical importance of the SukkurHyderabadKarachi motorway as an economic lifeline for Pakistan during a National Assembly session.

Aurangzeb assured that the project has been prioritized and will be completed at all costs, either through foreign financing or by allocations in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

Minister of State for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Chaudhry Armaghan Subhani, reaffirmed the government”s commitment to the motorway project, indicating that it will be included in the upcoming PSDP with work commencing this year.

In other developments, the National Assembly learned that electricity prices for eighteen million consumers using less than two hundred units have seen a fiftysix percent reduction since June of last year. Minister for Power, Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, disclosed a general reduction in electricity prices for domestic consumers, farmers, and industries, with a twenty and thirtyone percent decrease respectively.

Leghari expressed optimism about Pakistan becoming a competitive energy supplier in the region within the next year. He mentioned that the country currently has a surplus of seven thousand megawatts of electricity for the next three years and ongoing negotiations with development partners aim to further reduce industrial electricity prices.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Tariq Fazal Chaudhary, highlighted the improvements in Pakistan’s international image due to its response to Indian aggression. He stressed collective efforts to enhance the global ranking of the Pakistani passport and acknowledged the record remittances from overseas Pakistanis.

Parliamentary Secretary for Human Rights, Saba Sadiq, informed the House about the forthcoming appointment of the Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women. She assured that the commission is committed to promoting and protecting women”s rights with a focus on vulnerable groups in coordination with relevant stakeholders.