LAHORE: The provincial government has established a corporate body “Asset Management Authority of Punjab” (AMAP) for effective management and utilisation of assets and properties spread across urban, peri-urban and rural areas of the province under the administrative control of various departments, autonomous bodies and provincial government entities.

The Punjab government has identified that a significant portion of these assets remains unutilised, unde-rutilised, fragmented, encroached upon, or otherwise incapable of generating optimum economic returns for the government.

At present, there existed no dedicated institutional mechanism responsible for identification, inventory management, utilisation, monetisation and disposal of such unutilised or under-utilised landed assets through efficient, competitive and market-driven processes.

The authority has been established through an ordinance promulgated by the Punjab governor and gazette notified by the Punjab law and parliamentary affairs department on Thursday. It has come into force across Punjab. The Punjab governor has promulgated the ordinance as the Punjab Assembly is not in session.

CS to head 10-member Asset Management Authority of Punjab; move aims at generating non-tax revenue to meet fiscal needs

It has been stated that the increasing fiscal requirements of the province, growing demand for public infrastructure and social services, and the need to generate sustainable non-tax revenues necessitated the establishment of a specialised institution for efficient management of the Punjab government assets that still remained either under-utilised, or altogether unutilised.

The Punjab government also identified that the existing disposal and utilisation mechanisms were dispersed across multiple entities and were often based upon conventional procedures that did not consistently ensure efficiency, competitiveness or realisation of true market value. “The absence of a centralised digital inventory and GIS-based database of such government assets has limited the latter’s ability to effectively benefit from, or even protect such valuable landed assets,” it said.

In order to address these challenges, the establishment of the Asset Management Authority of Punjab was proposed with a mandate to identify, survey, classify, explore its best possible use, develop, utilise, monetise, lease or dispose of in one way or the other such surplus landed assets and properties owned or controlled by the Punjab government.

The authority has been mandated to effectively manage and utilise government assets through attracting investment, and to take projects for economic benefits in collaboration with private investors, local or foreign to generate revenue, facilitate job creation, enhance provincial revenues and exports, bolster economic growth and improve service delivery to the people and the matters connected therewith and ancillary thereto.

While the headquarters of the authority shall be established at Lahore, the 10-member authority will be headed by the chief secretary, while the senior member board of revenue will serve as its vice-chairman; and authority’s managing director acts as secretary.

The authority members comprise chairman planning and development board; administrative secretaries of finance, law and parliamentary affairs, housing, urban development and public health engineering, local government and community development departments; chief executive officer of the Punjab financial adviser services, and chief executive officer of the Punjab Public Private Partnership Authority.

The ordinance says the authority shall meet at least once in every quarter and decisions shall be made with majority of the members present and voting. The quorum of a meeting shall be one-half of its total membership.

The law envisages establishment of different committees including cabinet committee; valuation and determination of reserve price committee; disposal committee; unsolicited proposals committee and grievance redressal committee to perform functions assigned to them.

The law says there shall be an “Asset Management Authority of Punjab Fund” allowing the authority to utilise the funds to meet its expenses and charges properly incurred in connection with the carrying out of its functions and duties assigned or transferred to it.

The authority shall have the power to make decisions for utilisation of assets for maximising their commercial, social and strategic potential. The authority shall retain two per cent of net project proceeds for its expenditure and remaining 98pc from the project proceeds shall be deposited with the provincial consolidated fund. The auditor-general of Pakistan shall annually audit the accounts of the authority.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2026