Azerbaijan has offered Pakistan a financial lifeline, providing more than $1 billion in cash deposits to help the country develop its infrastructure.

The offer is made in answer to Pakistan's plea for finance for the $1.2 billion Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) project.

During his recent Azerbaijan visit, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif requested financial support for two big infrastructure projects worth $1.8 billion, including the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) and a new Hyderabad-Karachi Motorway (M-9) estimated to cost at least $600 million.

Azerbaijan has floated two possibilities for financing the motorways, according to officials at the National Highway Authority. One is Azerbaijan's State Oil Fund putting cash in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), whereby the federal government lends the NHA money to finance motorway construction.

The alternative option proposes the Islamic Development Bank's collaboration with Azerbaijan to provide direct financing for the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway, which is part of the country's North-South National Motorway Network.

Sources have disclosed that Azerbaijan showed initial interest in investing $2 billion in Pakistan, but that Pakistani authorities have not tabled concrete proposals for projects.

The cost of the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway is estimated to be $1.2 billion, and the government has just entered into a deal with the US company A.T. Kearney to conduct a feasibility study. Pakistan has also offered financing for the Hyderabad-Karachi Motorway (M-9), which will be built on a completely new route, independent of the existing motorway. The construction cost of this project, without land acquisition, is estimated at $600 million.