Board approves property disposal rules, a 5% artisan loan quota for transgender and disabled workers, and a 300-acre estate plan.
LAHORE: The Punjab Small Industries Corporation (PSIC) has cut security charges for allottees of its small industrial estates by up to 75%, part of a push by the provincial government to fill every plot in its industrial estates.
The decision was taken at the 140th meeting of the corporation’s board, chaired by Industries and Commerce Minister Chaudhry Shafay Hussain at PSIC House, which considered a 15-point agenda.
Selling idle property
The board approved the PSIC Sale and Disposal of Immovable Properties Rules 2026, which now go to the provincial cabinet, along with an auction schedule and reserve prices for redundant properties and plots inside and outside its estates.
It reviewed a lease model for the Quaidabad small industrial estate and a proposal for a new 300-acre estate at Kot Pindi Das, and approved upgrading the Metal Craft Artisan Village at Kot Abdul Malik.
“100% colonisation of industrial estates is a top priority,” Hussain said.
Loans for artisans
Changes to the interest-free loan scheme for Punjab’s artisans set aside a 5% quota for transgender and differently-abled craftspeople. The board also approved hiring an online marketing firm to sell handicrafts, a step intended to connect village workshops with buyers beyond local bazaars.
Other approvals included engaging a Supreme Court advocate as the board’s legal expert and a daily allowance of up to Rs50,000 for private board members performing assigned duties.
The wider credit push
Hussain said interest-free loans of up to Rs30 million were available under the second phase of the Chief Minister’s Asaan Karobar Finance scheme. Under the Industrial Development Programme, loans of up to Rs5 billion are on offer, with those up to Rs100 million interest-free, and large industries can borrow up to Rs1 billion through the Bank of Punjab.
He said the chief minister had approved four agro-processing parks and directed PSIC to identify land for them quickly, while a development programme for 23 small industrial estates was moving fast and an industrial park was being built in Gujranwala.
The minister told regional directors to leave their offices and work in the field. Managing director Mubeen Elahi said PSIC had become the first institution to repay its loan to the government.
The moves fit the province’s broader industrial policy push and plans for solar-powered industrial zones. Whether lower charges translate into running factories, rather than plots held for speculation, will be the measure of success.
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