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Projects · CPEC priority project

A gateway zone between Port Qasim and the National Highway: 1,530 acres in Thatta District, planned for light, medium and heavy industry and developed as a public–private partnership.

Officials and police walking across the site, with site cabins and a transmission tower behind
Officials on a site visit, Dhabeji SEZ Photograph: SEZMC media gallery, sezmc.gos.pk
acres in the master plan
1,530
plots planned
1,250
of the land for industry
73%
public–private partnership
PPP

01Overview

Project overview

The Government of Sindh has allotted 1,530 acres of land to be developed as Dhabeji Special Economic Zone (DSEZ) in Thatta. It is a priority project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), to help investors from China and other countries start new enterprises or move their facilities to Pakistan.

The zone is being developed under a public–private partnership. SEZMC’s development guidelines give priority to export-oriented industries and encourage joint ventures with Pakistani companies.

Sources: sezmc.gos.pk; SEZMC projects presentation; SEZMC’s earlier website (guidelines).

02Connectivity

Distances as published by SEZMC, drawn on rings by distance. The diagram is schematic: directions are indicative and not to scale.

Schematic dial: Dhabeji SEZ at the centre, destinations placed on rings by published distance. Not to scale; directions indicative. 1 km 10 km 100 km 1,000 km 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DSEZ

Schematic. Rings by distance on a logarithmic scale; directions indicative.

  1. 1 National Highway N-5 Direct access to the National Trade Corridor, upcountry and on to Central Asia. Earlier SEZMC website 0.5km
  2. 2 Dhabeji Railway Station, ML-1 On Main Line 1, marked on SEZMC’s site plan. SEZMC presentation 9.5km
  3. 3 Landhi Industrial Area Karachi’s eastern industrial belt. Earlier SEZMC website 20km
  4. 4 Port Qasim Raw materials in and finished goods out without long inland haulage. Earlier SEZMC website 22km
  5. 5 Karachi Airport Via the National Highway, for visiting managers and foreign staff. sezmc.gos.pk 35km
  6. 6 Karachi–Hyderabad Motorway M-9 The motorway north to Hyderabad and the rest of the country. Earlier SEZMC website 35km
  7. 7 Thatta District headquarters. Earlier SEZMC website 40km
  8. 8 Hyderabad Sindh’s second-largest city. Earlier SEZMC website 140km
  9. 9 Gwadar Deep-sea port on the CPEC route to the west. Earlier SEZMC website 700km

SEZMC’s presentation also marks a creek side with the possibility of a jetty, a proposed interchange on the National Highway, and a direct access road to Port Qasim (planned).

03Project enablers

The enabling projects listed in SEZMC’s presentation, with the estimated cost and the target date it gave. A target date is not a confirmed completion; SEZMC will publish current status here.

  • E-01

    Electricity

    250 MW

    Dedicated 220 kV grid

    Estimated cost
    PKR 6.17 billion
    Status
    Target date givenTarget completion: September 2025
  • E-02

    Gas

    13.5 MMCFD

    Gas supply to the zone

    Estimated cost
    PKR 429 million
    Status
    Reported completeConstruction complete (as reported)
  • E-03

    Water

    10 MGD

    Dedicated water line

    Estimated cost
    PKR 1.8 billion
    Status
    Target date givenTarget completion: December 2025
  • E-04

    Access road

    Port link

    Direct road connecting Port Qasim with the zone

    Estimated cost
    PKR 6 billion
    Status
    Target date givenTarget completion: December 2026

04Master plan

The master plan

Zoom into the master plan as supplied to SEZMC. The land-use figures are read from the plan’s own table; select a use to see its share.

Master plan sheet of Dhabeji Industrial Zone with plots, roads, a land-use table and legend
100% Open full size
Dhabeji Industrial Zone master plan, as supplied. A plan, not a record of what has been built.Plan: SEZMC projects presentation (24 Oct)

1,250 plots · 1,530.1 acres (plan total)

Land use Plots Acres Share
Heavy industry 115 405.1 26.5%
Medium industry 304 347.1 22.7%
Light industry 494 275.5 18.0%
Warehouse / medium industry 24 89.0 5.8%
Commercial, expo centre, hotel 268 48.5 3.2%
Residential 11 14.6 1.0%
Amenities Fire station and emergency response centre, health facility, parks and masjid, police station, ICT building, Dhabeji Walk, green belt – 27.2 1.8%
Utilities Water works, desalination plant, sewage treatment plant, garbage collection point, gas chamber – 14.7 1.0%
Roads 12 m to 60 m wide – 291.6 19.1%

As listed in the plan’s table; the rows do not add up exactly to the plan total.

05Industry

Focused sectors

The industries SEZMC has named for Dhabeji, grouped by scale of production and energy use.

Light industry

  1. L01Garments (cut and stitching units)
  2. L02Textiles value addition
  3. L03Consumer electronics assembly (e.g. mobile phones, semiconductors)
  4. L04Pharmaceutical packaging and formulation
  5. L05Food processing and packaging

Medium industry

  1. M01Automobile manufacturing (electric vehicles)
  2. M02Auto parts (lithium batteries etc.)
  3. M03Agricultural equipment assembly
  4. M04Furniture manufacturing
  5. M05Cold chain and refrigeration equipment
  6. M06Solar plates, inverters and parts manufacturing

Heavy industry

  1. H01Steel fabrication
  2. H02Chemical manufacturing (e.g. industrial chemicals, paints)
  3. H03Machinery and equipment manufacturing
  4. H04Large-scale textile processing units
  5. H05Construction materials (prefabricated structures)

06Photographs

Visits, signings and site work recorded by SEZMC, in the order the photographs were taken.

  • Guests in front of the Dhabeji SEZ stage backdrop
    15 July 2023 Groundbreaking ceremony Photograph: SEZMC shared drive, events
  • Officials standing under a shade canopy in front of a DSEZ backdrop
    2024 Event on the zone site Photograph: SEZMC media gallery, sezmc.gos.pk
  • A delegation in conversation on a cleared site with earth banks behind
    December 2024 Delegation on site Photograph: SEZMC media gallery, sezmc.gos.pk
  • Visitors leaning over a plan board on the site, vehicles and an excavator behind
    December 2024 Reviewing the site plan Photograph: SEZMC media gallery, sezmc.gos.pk
  • A delegation standing in front of a ZKBDMC and DSEZ backdrop
    December 2024 Delegation at the DSEZ site Photograph: SEZMC media gallery, sezmc.gos.pk
  • Officials shaking hands at a signing table in front of a Dhabeji Special Economic Zone backdrop
    January 2025 Memorandum of understanding signed Photograph: SEZMC media gallery, sezmc.gos.pk
  • Visitors with umbrellas gathered around a plan board on the site
    July 2025 Visitors on site Photograph: SEZMC media gallery, sezmc.gos.pk
  • Meeting around a table in an office with Dhabeji Special Economic Zone wall graphics
    July 2025 Meeting at the site office Photograph: SEZMC media gallery, sezmc.gos.pk
  • A delegation holding a red banner in front of concrete buildings under construction
    July 2025 Buildings under construction Photograph: SEZMC media gallery, sezmc.gos.pk

Documents

Tell SEZMC’s Investor Desk what you plan to build, the land and utilities you need and your timeline.

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