Punjab opens multi-year growth drive
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Friday formally started the Punjab Innovation for Value, Opportunity and Transformation programme, known as PIVOT, along with the STEP online gateway. Officials framed it as a 2026–29 package meant to widen industry, raise overseas sales and expand work opportunities across the province.
Provincial money of about Rs1.09 trillion is to sit beside roughly Rs906 billion expected from companies, bringing the headline envelope close to Rs1.99 trillion. Planners say the effort should add $6.8 billion in export earnings, open 162,000 positions and lift living standards for around one million residents.
Where the money and credit will go
Industrial expansion is assigned the largest slice, near Rs754 billion. Separately, Rs300 billion in soft project finance is promised at rates from nothing up to five per cent, aimed at easing the cost of new plants and upgrades.
Other tools listed at the ceremony include refunds on machinery duties, help for solar power and battery storage, cleaner rules on factory land and labour, and wider use of public–private partnerships. Maryam Nawaz told the gathering the package is meant to tackle scarce credit, weak factory infrastructure, missing skills, red tape and expensive energy.
Priority factory lines named by the province include ceramics, pharmaceuticals, footwear, leather, fans, sports products and garments. On the farm side, officials pointed to mechanisation, storage, meat and dairy processing, livestock disease control and cash support for growers. Fishery and shrimp schemes are also flagged to lift export-ready produce.
Four agro-processing hubs are planned in Okara, Bhakkar, Sargodha and Khanewal, covering fruit handling, cold rooms, grading and related value addition. Tourism spending is to lean on heritage and faith sites, Lahore’s evening economy, the Potohar belt, Cholistan and other visitor zones. The skills and technology strand covers digital courses, IT placements, globally recognised certificates, incubators and start-up backing, with training for 402,060 people over the three years.
Oversight and business reaction
Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman said a PIVOT unit will sit inside the Planning and Development Department, with a watch cell in his own office and deputy commissioners as district contacts. Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said the blueprint was prepared in about six months and is meant to deepen day-to-day work between the state and private firms.
State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad attended, as did figures from the Pakistan Business Council and factory owners from many cities. Industrialists including Mian Mansha, Fawad Mukhtar, Zaid Bashir and Usman Khalid Waheed voiced backing. Arif Habib separately said he intends to raise the country’s tallest tower at Lahore’s CBD One site.
Officials said dedicated administrative tracks will track delivery so investment, factory growth, exports and hiring stay under review as the calendar moves through 2026–29.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Punjab ne Rs1.99 trillion ka PIVOT plan shuru kiya hai jo 2026 se 2029 tak chalega. Hukumat aur private sector mil kar factories, exports aur jobs badhana chahte hain. Sasti industrial financing, skills training aur agro parks is plan ka hissa hain. Agar ye kaam field mein nikal aaya to nayi naukrian aur behtar industrial mauqe mil sakte hain.
