SIFC to allocate 4.8m acres land for military-run corporate farming initiative

The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) has identified 4.8 million acres of state land for lease to a military-run company for corporate agriculture farming, according to recent documents.

On August 9, during a national assembly session, a parliamentarian questioned the minister for national food security about the government’s efforts to boost agricultural cultivation. In response, Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain outlined various state projects aimed at increasing crop productivity and expanding cultivation areas over the past five years.

Hussain then revealed that, under SIFC’s direction, the government’s Green Pakistan Initiative has earmarked 4.8 million acres of “barren” land across the country for corporate farming.

This marked area is larger than the island of Jamaica and is approximately 9.5% of Punjab’s total land area. While the Green Pakistan Initiative is a collaborative effort between the Pakistani government and military to “enhance agricultural development”, as per its own website.

The minister further detailed that out of the 4.8 million acres, approximately 864,000 acres have been either shortlisted or already allocated to the Green Pakistan Initiative for future cultivation through private sector contracts or foreign investments, while cultivation has already commenced on 100,500 acres.

The minister did not respond to The News’ repeated requests for comments.

Most of the land designated for corporate farming and livestock is located in Punjab, with additional areas in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to a senior government official with knowledge of the allocation, who requested anonymity. The official confirmed to The News that state land has already been transferred in Punjab and Sindh for these purposes. However, the official did not provided a breakdown of the areas in each province where the land has been leased out.

“The land will be offered to domestic and international investors for its right of use,” the official explained.

Additionally, a private limited company was also registered in August under the Green Pakistan Initiative. Over 90% of the shares in the company are held by the Pakistan army, as per documents seen by The News. The company will acquire state land on a 30-year lease through joint venture agreements and then allocate it to investors for corporate farming projects.

When asked about the army holding the largest shares in the private company, the official acknowledged this as “partially correct” without elaborating any further.

Last year, during a Lahore High Court (LHC) case concerning state land allocation for corporate farming in Punjab, it was revealed that a profit-sharing mechanism would be in place, with 20% of the profits dedicated to research and development, and the remaining profits split 50-50 between the provincial government and the army.

A similar agreement was signed by the Sindh government and the military last year too.

In June last year, the LHC suspended the transfer of state land in Punjab ruling that the constitution did not allow the military to take up commercial ventures. However, later another bench of the same court allowed the transfer of the land to proceed.