The Islamabad Model Jail has once again missed its completion deadline, extending a construction delay that has now stretched to 14 years since the project was launched in 2011.
Officials informed the Islamabad High Court’s Prison Reforms Committee that the long-delayed facility is now expected to be completed by December 31, 2026, and will become fully operational from January 1, 2027.
The project has faced repeated delays over the years, primarily due to slow construction progress and funding constraints. Once completed, the jail is expected to strengthen prison infrastructure in the federal capital and reduce the burden on Adiala Jail, from where hundreds of inmates are transported daily to Islamabad courts.
Ongoing setbacks have caused the project’s estimated cost to rise from Rs. 3.7 billion to Rs. 20 billion. With the continued rise in construction material prices, the total cost is expected to increase by another Rs. 2 billion before the project is completed, which is now expected within the next six months.
Construction of the Islamabad Model Jail began in 2011. Since then, six official completion deadlines have been missed due to slow progress and a lack of funding. Most recently, June 30, 2026, had been announced as the target completion date, but that deadline has also passed.
The new prison is expected to ease the burden on Adiala Jail, but that objective has been delayed because of the project’s prolonged construction. The Islamabad Model Central Jail, being built on 190 acres in Sector H-16, has now entered its final stage of completion. The facility will have the capacity to accommodate 2,000 prisoners and will include modern security systems, separate barracks for women and juvenile inmates, a hospital, a mosque, a library, vocational training centres, judicial facilities, and residential and administrative buildings for prison staff.
Islamabad currently has no operational jail, requiring hundreds of prisoners to be transported daily from Adiala Jail to courts in the federal capital.
The Islamabad High Court’s Prison Reforms Committee has been informed that the Islamabad Model Jail will be completed by December 31, 2026, and will become fully operational from January 1, 2027.
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