Lahore: The Punjab government has proposed to reduce the development budget for the financial year 2026-27 from Rs 1450 billion to Rs 752 billion.
According to sources, the budget of Punjab for the next financial year will be presented today, in which a total of 3560 projects are proposed to be included under the Annual Development Program (ADP).
According to the documents, out of the Rs 752 billion, Rs 493.25 billion has been proposed to be allocated for ongoing development schemes, while Rs 258.75 billion has been proposed for new development schemes.
Similarly, Rs 353.84 billion local funding and Rs 139.40 billion foreign funding have been kept for 3117 ongoing development schemes, while Rs 254 billion local and Rs 4.68 billion foreign funding have been proposed for 420 new development schemes.
According to sources, a development budget of Rs 1240 billion was approved in the last fiscal year 2025-26, while only Rs 752 billion has been proposed for development projects this year.
Thus, the development budget has been reduced by Rs 488 billion compared to the previous year.
Last year, 5755 projects were part of the budget, while this year this number has come down to 3560, that is, 2195 projects have been reduced. Similarly, 1662 new projects were added last year, while only 420 new projects are proposed to be added this year.
On the other hand, the number of ongoing projects has increased from 1442 to 3117 and a major portion of the development expenditure has been planned to be spent on the completion of these projects.
The development program has proposed to keep Rs 20 billion for the Nawaz Sharif Cancer Hospital Lahore in the next fiscal year, while the establishment of Kulsoom Nawaz Cancer Hospital in DG Khan is also included. The total cost of the project has been estimated at Rs 15 billion and an allocation of Rs 800 million has been proposed for the next financial year.
It has been proposed to allocate Rs 15 billion 69 million for the Chief Minister Punjab Laptop Program, Rs 2 billion 47 million for the Kisan Card Program, Rs 6 billion 75 million for the Kisan Card Phase II, Rs 1 billion for the Livestock Card Phase II and Rs 300 million for the Chief Minister Parwaz Card for International Placement Program.
In the education sector, a total cost of Rs 9.5 billion has been proposed for the establishment of Mian Nawaz Sharif Engineering and Technology University Kasur, while an allocation of Rs 200 million has been recommended for the next financial year.
Similarly, an allocation of Rs 26.1 million has been proposed for the Shahbaz Sharif Sports Complex Kasur, Rs 20 million for the Shahbaz Sharif Sports Gymnasium Gujranwala and Rs 15 million for the Nawaz Sharif Sports Ground Sialkot.
In the health sector, a Rs 169 billion project has been prepared for Nawaz Sharif Medical District Lahore, while an allocation of Rs 2 billion is proposed for the next financial year. It has been recommended to allocate Rs 610 million for Maryam Nawaz Health Clinic and Rs 59 million for Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif Autonomous Program.
Other projects include a proposal to allocate Rs 20 million for Maryam Nawaz Sharif Ladies Park City Pasrur, Rs 10 million for Maryam Nawaz Sharif Family Park Dinga, District Gujrat, Rs 33 million for the construction and repair of water supply, filtration plant in Nawaz Sharif Stadium Nankana Sahib and Rs 31 million for the construction and repair of Nawaz Sharif Road to Aimanabad Road Sialkot.
In addition, a Rs 50 billion project has been proposed for Maryam Nawaz Sports City Lahore, for which it has been recommended to keep Rs 110 million in the next financial year, while it has been decided to establish Maryam Nawaz Autism School at each divisional level.
The total cost of this project has been estimated at Rs 4.5 billion and it has been proposed to allocate Rs 1.9 billion for the next fiscal year.