Punjab P&D Board approves Rs12.48bn for 11 price control projects

Lahore | By Muhammad Shahzad
Punjab’s Planning and Development (P&D) Board has approved Rs12.48 billion for 11 projects under the Price Control and Commodities Management Department, aimed at curbing inflation and improving the supply and monitoring of essential goods, officials said.
Secretary Price Control and Commodities Management Dr Kiran Khurshid said the approvals reflect the Punjab chief minister’s commitment to providing household-level relief through tighter price oversight and improved market infrastructure. The projects were formally cleared by the P&D Board chairperson.
A major component is the Sahulat Bazaar initiative, for which Rs10 billion has been released. The government has approved 105 Sahulat Bazaars across Punjab, with 48 already operational, to provide essential commodities at regulated prices.
Funding has also been approved for the construction of a new Punjab Food Authority (PFA) headquarters (PFA House), with work already under way. The province will upgrade the Market Information Service to support farmers with timely price and demand data.
Additional allocations include a new infrastructure programme for safe crop storage and packaging, a digital monitoring system to oversee prices and supply chains of essential commodities, and four mobile laboratories to test sugar content in sugarcane.
Under the Digital Punjab Governance framework, approvals were granted to modernise government data systems to improve policy integration and decision-making. Further funding has been set aside for a price and shortage forecasting system, a state-of-the-art PFA laboratory and training school in Rawalpindi under the Safe Food, Healthy Punjab initiative, and the modernisation of the Consumer Protection Council.
Officials said the projects are expected to strengthen market transparency, stabilise prices and enhance consumer protection across the province.