——- CM Shah presents Rs1,018bn Annual Development Programme
——- Says special priority is given to flood rehabilitation, energy initiatives & Karachi projects
——- KP Finance Minister reveals 2,119bn budget
——- Announces increase in salary, pension
From Zeeshan Mirza
Karachi/Peshawar: The governments of Sindh and Khyber Pukhtonkhwa unveil budget 2025-26.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, while unveiling the annual budget in the assembly, pre-sented the Annual Development Program (ADP) for the fiscal year 2025-26 with a total outlay of Rs 1,018 billion. Presenting the budget, CM Shah said that this ambitious development plan focuses on rehabilitation, infrastructure, social services, and sustainable growth across the province.
Giving details of ADP funds, the chief minister said that Rs520bn allocated for provincial ADP, Rs55bn for district ADP, Rs366.72bn for Foreign Project Assistance and Rs76.28bn for Federal PSDP. The CM said that the ADP and the development portfolio focus on the rehabilitation of flood-damaged schools and infrastructure to enhance education access, upgradation of healthcare facilities for im-proved service delivery, promotion of climate-resilient agriculture and irrigation system restoration, provision of clean drinking water and sanitation to improve public health, strengthening road connec-tivity and urban infrastructure.
It also includes mass transit and safe city projects in Karachi, Implementation of green energy initia-tives and renewable energy projects, poverty alleviation through nutrition support, community infra-structure, and low-cost housing, he added.
The provincial chief executive said that the ADP includes 3,642 schemes with Rs400.5bn allocated – 82.6% for 3,161 ongoing projects and 17.4% for 481 new initiatives. He further said that Rs119.5bn had been allocated for special development initiatives.
The CM said that Rs102.8bn were proposed for education, Rs45.4bn for health, Rs84bn for irrigation, Rs132bn for local government, Rs143bn for Works and Services, Rs36.3bn for energy (including Thar Coal and renewable), Rs22.5bn for agriculture, livestock and fisheries and Rs59.7bn for transport and mass transit.
He maintained that his government emphasised completing ongoing projects by allocating 80% of the budget to them, while 20% is reserved for new schemes.
“Special priority is given to flood rehabilitation, energy initiatives, Karachi city projects, and sustainable development goals like clean water and sanitation,” the chief minister added.
CM Shah further said that the outgoing year saw the completion of 1,460 schemes, the highest in re-cent years, with significant progress in housing for flood-affected people – over 400,000 houses com-pleted and more under construction.
“The total development expenditure reached Rs468bn, with 73% utilisation of released funds,” he added.
The chief minister said that the comprehensive ADP reflects Sindh’s commitment to sustainable de-velopment, infrastructure enhancement, and social welfare, aiming to boost economic growth and improve quality of life across the province.
Earlier, The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government announced 10 and seven percent increase in sala-ries and pension respectively of its employees in the Rs 2,119 billion surplus budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 presented on Friday.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Minister Aftab Alam presented the budget with ‘no new tax’ and said that the estimated annual expenditures for the new fiscal year 2025-26 would be Rs 1962 billion with a surplus of Rs157 billion.
Giving the break-up, the finance minister said that provincial government is expecting to get Rs 292.340 billion from the federal government for the merged tribal districts including Rs 80 billion cur-rent budget grant, Rs 39.600 annual development program, Rs 50 billion under AIP, Rs 42.740 billion as their share from other provinces and Rs 17 billion for TDPs.
Aftab Alam said that Rs 3.293 billion would be received from PSDP, Rs 1506.92 billion from the federal receipts, Rs129 billion provincial owns receipts and Rs10.250 other receipts, Rs 291.340mn from merged districts receipts and Rs177.188 from federal projects assistance.
The minister said said that Rs137.912 would be collected through one percent of the divisible pool on war on terror, Rs. 57.115 billion as straight transfer under the head of gas and oil royalty, Rs 58.151 bil-lion as windfall levy on oil, Rs 34.580 as net hydel profit current year and Rs71.410 as net hydel profit arrears.
