The Sindh Cabinet on Friday approved a record Rs3,451.87 billion budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 during a pre-budget meeting held under the chair of Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.
The budget will be presented in the Sindh Assembly today.
Here are the key points and allocations:
Salary, Pension:
The cabinet approved a 10% ad-hoc increase in salaries for government employees from Grade 1 to 22, along with a 7% raise in pensions. The province’s minimum monthly wage has been set at Rs37,000.
Education Sector
A total of Rs523.73 billion has been allocated for education. Key allocations include:
- 20 billion for primary education
- 70 billion for middle education
- 20 billion for secondary education
- 53 billion for college education
- Rs500 million for college building repairs
- Rs500 million for scholarships for students studying abroad
- Rs2 billion for the Sindh Endowment Fund
- 40 billion for cadet colleges
- 50 billion for stabilizing primary schools
- Rs42 billion for 31 public universities and nine autonomous institutions
- Rs800 million for press clubs, bar associations, and journalistic organizations
Health Sector
The health sector received an 8% increase, bringing its total allocation to Rs326 billion. This includes:
- Rs26 billion for the People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI)
- Rs10 billion for Gambat Medical Institute
- Rs19 billion for Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT)
- Rs4 billion for Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Trauma Centre
- Rs10 billion for Larkana Civil Hospital
- Rs8 billion for Indus Hospital Karachi
- Rs5 billion for Sindh Emergency Health Service, including 508 new ambulances
Mega Karachi Projects
Karachi received special attention with Rs10 billion allocated for six major projects, with the majority of funding supported by foreign project assistance:
- Rs27 billion for the Yellow Line BRT project
- 8 billion for Water and Sewerage Service upgrades
- 8 billion for Phase II of sanitation improvements
- Rs18 billion for general operations under the CLICK project, with Rs3 billion for its capital component
- Rs9 billion for the Solid Waste Emergency Project
- Rs26 billion for the Karachi Redesign Project
