LAHORE: The government has released Rs4.83bn to the Punjab Sahulat Bazaar Authority for expansion of Sahulat bazaar and Sahulat on-the-go expansion project under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the fiscal year 2026-27.

“The establishment of Sahulat bazaar and Sahulat on-the-go will be expanded to all tehsils in Punjab for which Rs19bn have been allocated. Of the total amount, Rs4.83bn were released to the authority by the finance department recently,” explains a senior official concerned.

“With the released amount, the authority will be able to complete establishment of Sahulat bazaars and the allied formations in tehsils,” the official, requesting anonymity, added.

The government, according to him, wants every tehsil of Punjab to have one Sahulat bazaar and Sahulat on-the-go facility to ensure provision of daily use items to the public at affordable prices. At present, 27 Sahulat bazaars and 41 Sahulat on-the-go facilities are under construction across the province. Of these, 24 Sahulat bazaars and 23 Sahulat on-the-go would start operation next month. With completion of these schemes, 139 of total 154 tehsils in 38 districts would have such facilities.

The tehsils where Sahulat on-the-go facilities are under construction include Chunian, Kasur, Shahkot, Malakwal, Sahiwal, Ahmedpur East, Ahmedpur Sial, Faisalabad Saddar, Chichawatni, Khanpur, Bahawalpur Saddar, Rawalpindi city, Nishtar (Lahore), Dina, Kharian, Zafarwal, Pattoki, Model Town, Multan, Jalalpur Pirwala, Bhalwal, Bhera, Jahanian, DG Khan, Sargodha city, Minchinabad, Fort Abbas, Bahawalnagar, Haroonabad and Arifwala. Sahulat bazaars are under construction in 23 tehsils of the aforementioned ones.

“The tendering process for Sahulat bazaar and Sahulat on-the-go schemes in the remaining 15 tehsils has also been completed and the projects would be awarded to contractors within a week or so,” the official said, adding that the people during the next Ramazan would have Sahulat bazaar facilities in most cities/towns.

“By June, next year, we will try our best to cover all tehsils,” he said.

According to him, a plan is also under discussion to increase the number of Sahulat bazaars and Sahulat on-the-go setups in Lahore, as 10 Sahulat bazaars, 15 Sahulat-on-the-go and 25 relief markets are not enough for the city of over 15m. The plan is being discussed

for Baghbanpura, Mughalpura, Cantonment, Model Town, Ghazi Road and parts of Samanabad that do not have adequate Sahulat bazaar coverage.

To a question, the official said the prices being charged by the shopkeepers in these bazaars were being monitored daily under a strict mechanism.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2026