Pakistan has allocated Rs352.5 million for two technology innovation programmes, SPARK and ELEVATE, for fiscal year 2026 to 2027. The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication disclosed the figure in a reply to the National Assembly, saying the money is meant to back technology-driven projects and strengthen the country’s innovation ecosystem.
Funding outside the budget and PSDP
The ministry said the Rs352.5 million would be drawn from the Research and Development Fund. It will not form part of the federal budget or the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP)—the government’s main development spending plan. That means the programmes sit on a dedicated R&D financing track rather than the usual annual budget lines lawmakers debate for roads, energy or social schemes.
How SPARK and ELEVATE grants work
Both schemes are built to give grants to eligible applicants with innovative projects. Award sizes depend on the scale and needs of each proposal. Under SPARK, a single project can receive up to Rs100 million. ELEVATE allows larger asks, with funding of up to Rs200 million per project.
According to the ministry, each programme can issue up to 30 grants in a year. Supported projects are expected to run for about 18 months. Put simply, the annual Rs352.5 million pool must stretch across both schemes: at the SPARK ceiling alone, a few maximum-sized awards would use most of the pot, so many grantees are likely to receive smaller sums within those limits unless ELEVATE awards are fewer and carefully sized.
Aims and a separate venture fund
The programmes are intended to put money behind innovation and to encourage technology-based solutions developed in Pakistan. In the same reply, the ministry also referred to the Pakistan Venture Fund, a separate initiative with a funding size of $20 million. The Rs352.5 million for SPARK and ELEVATE is tied specifically to the Research and Development Fund for FY 2026–27 and is not the same as that venture fund.
For startups, researchers and teams building tech products, the practical next step is to watch for official calls and eligibility rules from the IT ministry once applications open for the new fiscal year.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pakistan ne SPARK aur ELEVATE naam ke do tech programmes ke liye Rs352.5 million rakhe hain, jo FY 2026–27 ke liye hain. Ye paise Research and Development Fund se aayenge, federal budget ya PSDP se nahi. Jo log innovative projects bana rahe hain, unhein SPARK mein Rs100 million aur ELEVATE mein Rs200 million tak grant mil sakti hai. Har programme saal mein 30 grants tak de sakta hai, aur project roughly 18 mahine chalenge.
