Plan to set up schools to train licensed heavy vehicle drivers

E-Paper | March 15, 2026

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Wednesday decided to establish training schools for those intending to get licence to drive heavy transport vehicles (HTV) and light transport vehicles (LTV).

The programme aims to train 100,000 licensed drivers over five years (62,500 LTV and 37,500 HTV), with nearly half from Karachi.

The decision to this effect was taken at the 50th meeting of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Policy Board, presided over by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. The board also approved series of initiatives in education, transport, ecotourism and industrial development.

According to a press statement issued by the CM House, the meeting was attended among others by provincial ministers Sardar Shah, Jam Khan Shoro and Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, Adviser to CM Babal Bhayo, Special Assistant to CM Syed Qasim Naveed and Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah.

It said that the project responded to rising global demand for drivers, particularly in Europe, Australia, China, Turkey and the GCC countries. Pakistan’s transport sector contributes 10–13 per cent to GDP and employs over 4.1 million people. In 2025, Pakistan formally exported 163,000 drivers, with another estimated 30,000 going abroad informally, while Sindh’s share remains just two per cent.

Training centres will initially be set up at four Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (STEVTA) institutions: Government College of Technology (SITE), Karachi; Government Polytechnic College, Dadu; Government Vocational Training Institute, Sukkur; and Government Institute of Business and Commercial Education, Naushehro Feroze.

Larger facilities are planned in Karachi to cater to higher demand. Each centre will offer an end-to-end training-to-licensing model with multimedia classrooms, computer-based theory labs, dedicated HTV and LTV simulators, practice yards, on-road training, on-site licensing desks and supporting workshops and safety facilities.

The board approved the project concept and endorsed hiring of transaction advisers, who will conduct detailed feasibility studies.

The board also approved certain matters to fast-track Marble City Karachi, a 300-acre industrial estate dedicated to the marble and granite sector.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2026

Newspaper

Tahir Siddiqui is a Karachi-based reporter for Dawn with over 35 years of experience covering the Sindh Assembly, Karachi City Council, and the provincial government. He can be found on X at @DawnReporterTS.

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