Punjab’s Minister for Industries and Commerce, Chaudhry Shafay Hussain, has announced a major new business financing initiative designed to inject growth into the province’s industrial sector. In a strategic meeting with the Sargodha Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lahore, the minister revealed that the provincial government, in collaboration with the Bank of Punjab, will officially launch a massive Rs. 300 billion Easy Loan Scheme in October 2026. Under this upcoming program, local businesses will be eligible to secure interest-free loans up to Rs. 100 million, while larger credit lines worth billions of rupees will be extended at heavily discounted, low-markup rates.

In tandem with the financial rollout, the Punjab government is initiating a multi-billion-rupee infrastructure overhaul aimed directly at local manufacturing hubs. Responding to infrastructure concerns raised by the Sargodha Chamber regarding their Small Industrial Estate, the minister committed to upgrading 23 Small Industrial Estates across Punjab over the current year. To further bolster business confidence, Minister Hussain explicitly pledged that the provincial government would step in to protect industrialists and traders from unnecessary bureaucratic harassment by any public or private entity.

The meeting also highlighted upcoming global export push efforts, with the Sargodha Chamber revealing plans to host exclusive “Mango Festivals” in Spain and South Africa next month to market Pakistani mangoes abroad. Welcoming the initiative, the minister guaranteed full provincial backing to maximize international outreach. With the combination of major infrastructure upgrades, institutional safeguards, and the impending October credit scheme, the provincial layout aims to provide small-to-medium enterprises and large-scale industrial units with the exact baseline resources needed to scale operations.