Sixteen of 19 approvals are cost revisions; sewerage in 11 towns takes 60% while a new university and traffic centre get the green light.
LAHORE: Punjab’s Provincial Development Working Party approved 19 schemes worth Rs126.67 billion on Friday, with 16 of them revised versions of existing projects, underlining the government’s shift towards finishing what it has started after a sharp cut to this year’s development budget.
The 13th meeting of the working party was chaired by Dr Naeem Rauf, chairman of the Planning and Development Board.
Sewerage takes the lion’s share
Eleven schemes under the Punjab Development Programme, covering sewerage, stormwater drainage and street paving in medium-sized towns, account for about Rs76 billion, or 60% of the total. The largest are Ferozewala in Sheikhupura at Rs11.49 billion and the Daska, Mandrainwal and Jamkey Cheema cluster in Sialkot at Rs11.34 billion.
The others are Mailsi (Rs7.89 billion), Kot Abdul Malik (Rs7.57 billion), Mian Channu (Rs7.16 billion), Kamoke (Rs6.71 billion), Muridke (Rs5.63 billion), Renala Khurd (Rs5.14 billion), Abdul Hakim (Rs5.03 billion), Ali Pur Chatha (Rs4.35 billion) and Hazro (Rs3.68 billion).
All 11 are revised schemes, meaning their scope or cost has been reworked since first approval.
The new money
Three projects are new. The biggest single approval, Rs18.86 billion, is for infrastructure, academic and operational facilities at the Punjab University of Technology in Rasul, Mandi Bahauddin. The working party also cleared a Rs3.25 billion Provincial Traffic Management and Command Centre at Qurban Police Lines in Lahore and a Rs2 billion technology upgrade programme for the cutlery sector, an industry concentrated in Wazirabad.
Hospitals and the hostel
Health schemes include a revised Rs10.14 billion children’s hospital in Rawalpindi and a revised Rs1.51 billion, 50-bed hospital at Bhurban in Murree. The revised second phase of the MPA hostel in Lahore was approved at Rs6.88 billion, and the remodelling of Jhika Gali Chowk in Murree at Rs4.06 billion. A revised Rs3.98 billion scheme will set up aquaculture malls across the province.
Context of a tighter budget
The approvals come against a smaller development budget. Punjab’s Annual Development Programme for 2026-27 was set at Rs752 billion, nearly 40% below the Rs1.24 trillion of the previous year, with priority given to ongoing schemes.
Last month the ninth meeting of the same body cleared Rs63 billion for three schemes, including the Rs51.3 billion Rawalpindi Ring Road R3 section.
Friday’s list confirms that pattern: only three of the 19 schemes are new, and the bulk of the money goes to completing basic civic works in towns outside the big cities.
Secretary P&D Rafaqat Ali, chief economist Dr Farrukh Naveed and board members attended the meeting.
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