Bahria Town Karachi is a privately owned gated community located in northeast of Karachi, Pakistan. The suburb is being developed by Malik Riaz and his Bahria Town Group, and is located just off the M-9 Motorway and occupies over . Construction began in 2014.
The community includes the Grand Jamia Mosque, which is planned to be the world's third largest mosque, and the Rafi Cricket Stadium, the country's largest, designed by GMW Architects. Bahria Town has the Danzoo which is the largest zoo in Karachi. It has Bahria Adventura which is the largest theme park in Karachi. It has multiple schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, parks, monuments, cinemas and shopping malls. The community is divided by the , , 18-lane, Jinnah Avenue. The community will be energy independent with a coal-fired and an LNG-powered electricity generation plant, in partnership with K-Electric. It is also home to a 36-hole United States Golf Association standard golf course.
The community consists of over 60 precincts and is planned to house around one million people. The town will be connected to I. I. Chundrigar Road by a Karachi Metrobus route in the future. In 2019, Bahria Town Karachi demanded unplanned 35% development charges, which were later inferred for an unknown period.
The Malir Expressway is a new inter-city highway being built from district south Karachi, all the way up to the M-9 motorway. This new 39 km highway will facilitate traffic from with in the city of Karachi, to the motorway and Bahria Town Karachi. This inter-city high will have multiple interchanges within the city, and will make quick access to Bahria Town a possibility. With the current given estimated, this will cut down driving time to Bahria town by almost 40 minutes. What use to take 1 hour 10 minutes, will only take 30 minutes. Phase 1 of this project was opened by January 20, 2025, and phase 2 to be in operation by 2026.
Bahria Town Karachi is divided into more than 60 precincts.
Power & Utilities
Water & Waste Management
2015âÂÂ2016: Land Allotment Disputes
In 2015, questions were raised regarding the exact acreage of land allotted to Bahria Town Karachi by the Malir Development Authority (MDA). By August 2016, the Supreme Court of Pakistan issued an interim order to halt construction on approximately 5,786 acres, citing irregularities in the land exchange process between the Sindh Government and the MDA. Bahria Town officials maintained that the land was lawfully acquired from local owners and through official government channels.
The Rs460 Billion Supreme Court Settlement
Following a 2018 ruling that declared certain land acquisitions illegal, the Supreme Court of Pakistan accepted a Rs460 billion (approx. $3.1 billion) settlement from Bahria Town in March 2019. This massive financial commitment, unprecedented for a private entity in Pakistan, was intended to legalize 16,896 acres and protect the project from total closure. The payment schedule required significant liquidity, including a Rs25 billion down payment and subsequent monthly installments of Rs2.25 billion.
The "Affectee" Dilemma and New Launches
During the years of legal uncertainty (2017âÂÂ2020), a segment of investorsâÂÂoften referred to as "affectees"âÂÂfound their plots located on un-validated or disputed land. While these members awaited resolution, Bahria Town launched new sub-projects, such as Bahria Paradise and Bahria Greens.
Resolution through Merging and Adjustments
Recognizing the frustration of affectees, Bahria Town eventually implemented a multi-layered accommodation strategy to ensure that public investment was not lost:
Current Perspective
While the 2019 settlement remains a significant financial weight on the organization, the majority of the original "affectees" have had their claims addressed through these merging and adjustment schemes. The project has evolved into a fully functional city-within-a-city providing international standard living to Karachiites.