Pakistan allocates Rs4.83 billion to expand Sahulat Bazaars
In Pakistan’s Punjab province, the government has allocated 4.83 billion Pakistani rupees to the Punjab Sahulat Bazaar Authority to expand the Sahulat Bazaar and Sahulat on-the-go project in the 2026–2027 fiscal year. The funds were released under the annual development programme, Dawn reports.
Expansion plans
A total of 19 billion rupees has been earmarked for expanding the Sahulat Bazaar and Sahulat on-the-go network across all tehsils of Punjab. According to an unnamed official, the funds already released should make it possible to complete the establishment of bazaars and related infrastructure in the tehsils.
The authorities plan to open one Sahulat Bazaar and one Sahulat on-the-go facility in each tehsil to provide residents with everyday goods at affordable prices. Currently, 27 Sahulat Bazaars and 41 Sahulat on-the-go facilities are being built in the province. Of these, 24 bazaars and 23 Sahulat on-the-go facilities are expected to begin operating next month.
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Tehsil coverage and Lahore
Once these projects are completed, such facilities will be available in 139 of 154 tehsils across Punjab’s 38 districts. Tender procedures for projects in the remaining 15 tehsils have already been completed, and the projects are planned to be handed over to contractors within about a week. The official also said that by June next year, the authorities would seek to cover all tehsils.
According to him, Sahulat Bazaars should be available in most cities and towns of the province during the next Ramadan. At the same time, the authorities are discussing increasing the number of such facilities in Lahore, where, in the official’s estimate, 10 Sahulat Bazaars, 15 Sahulat on-the-go facilities and 25 relief markets are insufficient for a city with a population of more than 15 million people. Network expansion is being considered in Baghbanpura, Mughalpura, Cantonment, Model Town, on Ghazi Road and in part of Samanabad. Prices charged by sellers at these bazaars are monitored daily, the official said.
