Rs5 Billion Allocated for KKH Route Change

Pakistan has set aside Rs5 billion in the federal Public Sector Development Programme for the 2026-27 fiscal year to realign a 102-kilometre section of the Karakoram Highway between Thakot and Raikot, according to a ProPakistani report published on 24 September.

The report did not say why the route is being changed or when construction would begin. The affected stretch runs from Thakot in Battagram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Raikot in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, along the Indus gorge before the road climbs toward Chilas and the onward route to the Khunjerab Pass on the Chinese border.

The Karakoram Highway is Pakistan's only all-weather road link to China and the main corridor for trade, tourism and passenger movement through Gilgit-Baltistan. Past infrastructure projects along the Indus, including power dams, have forced earlier realignments of the road where reservoirs or unstable slopes threatened the alignment. The highway has gained additional importance under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which has led to a sharp increase in freight traffic.

The ProPakistani report is the only public account of the allocation so far, and neither the federal government nor the Gilgit-Baltistan administration has issued a statement. The Skardu Times could not independently verify the Rs5 billion figure or the exact design of the new route.

The allocation is part of the 2026-27 Public Sector Development Programme, the federal government's annual list of development projects. The programme is still to be approved by the National Assembly, after which implementing agencies would be able to tender the work. If funded at the reported level, the Thakot-Raikot realignment would become one of the larger road infrastructure projects in the northern areas.