Rs24.8bn for transport sector

LAHORE:The Punjab government has allocated an amount of Rs24.8 billion for the province’s transport sector in the annual budget 2022-2023 presented here on Wednesday.

As per the breakup, of Rs24.8 billion a total of Rs18.4 billion has been earmarked for non-development expenditures which include salaries and related stuff while for the development work a total of Rs6.3 billion has been allocated under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2022-2023.

As per the summary of ADP for the Transport Department, Rs5.9 billion would be spent on the ongoing schemes with a major chunk of Rs4.2 billion for Mass Transit while for new schemes only over Rs400 million has been allocated.

In the ongoing schemes, an amount of Rs4.1 billion is for the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train Project while for the clearance of liabilities for the construction of Multan Metro Bus Project Rs74 million has been allocated.

Similarly, for the procurement of 200 eco friendly urban buses for major cities of Punjab an amount of Rs850 million has been earmarked.

For the construction of 200 bus stop shelters/bus scheduling in Lahore Rs498 million has been allocated and Rs312 million for centralised automated fare collection and bus scheduling system.