ISLAMABAD: The Punjab Finance Department has returned a summary from the Transport and Mass Transit Department (T&MD) — a subsidiary of the Punjab Transport Company (AD/PTC) — which sought over Rs1 billion for inaugural, launching, and media campaigns for the newly inducted electric buses, terming the request “flippant and frivolous expenditure.”
“The AD (of Punjab Transport and Mass Transit Department) has requested Rs1 billion just for inaugural and launching ceremonies and media campaigns, which otherwise have no direct benefit to the people of the province. The AD is requested to act circumspectly and rationalise such frivolous expenditure, managing these ceremonies from within available resources,” read the Punjab Finance Department’s document available with the Hum Investigation Team.
It further stated, “Punjab is currently under an IMF programme that requires strict expenditure controls — not to mention considerable, unexpected expenditures on account of flood relief and rehabilitation. To put things in perspective, the Finance Department (FD) has so far released Rs1.7 billion to PDMA for all flood relief activities across the province for an estimated affected population of six million people.”
The document added that “the AD/PTC has not shared any detailed breakdown of costs or planned activities to substantiate the requirement of Rs1 billion for inauguration and media campaigns. The cost estimates, as presented, appear to be highly inflated and warrant rationalisation.”
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It further noted that “the FD has already released Rs5.7 billion for Bahawalpur and Faisalabad bus depots, on the advice of the P&D Department, which also includes allocations of Rs99 million collectively.”
In addition, the Finance Department drew the attention of the AD/PTC to the fact that, during the current fiscal year, the DGPR has already been provided Rs1.6 billion under the original budget head “A03907 – Advertising and Publicity.”
“The PTC was accordingly advised to approach the DGPR for inclusion of its proposed media communication strategy in consolidated provincial campaigns, after proper rationalisation of costs,” the document said.
In its demand for an additional Rs1 billion and in reply to the Finance Department’s objection, the AD/PTC again moved the summary argueing that “the media campaigns are needed to create public awareness regarding, inter alia, the technological shift in public transport, the use of new modes of public transportation, their safety features, and environmental benefits,” the documents stated.
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“In view of the foregoing, it is proposed that the Chief Minister may kindly accord permission to place the matter regarding the provision of Rs1 billion as a grant in favour of the Punjab Transport Company for arranging the inauguration, launching ceremonies, and media campaigns for electric buses and e-depots in cities across Punjab before the Provincial Cabinet,” the documents added.
The summary further stated that these funds could be utilised for districts falling under these administrative divisions. It noted that since the inaugurations and media campaigns were linked to development schemes for eco-friendly buses and bus depots, nine ongoing schemes were being continued while 19 new ones had been initiated. Collectively, these schemes cover Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Sahiwal, Multan, DG Khan, and Bahawalpur divisions — almost all districts of Punjab.
It added that sufficient funds were already budgeted within the PC-1 documents of these schemes, including under the head “Others”, and therefore, the AD may approach the P&D Department for utilisation of these funds for the intended purpose.
The document said the PTC was executing ADP schemes under the CM’s initiatives in accordance with the policy and vision of the Punjab government. “PTC will not be able to conduct the aforementioned inauguration ceremonies and media campaigns of public benefit without the availability of funds,” it said.
In response, the finance secretary wrote: “The summary has been re-examined. In this regard, a meeting was held in the FD with the CEO PTC on 10.09.2025, wherein the proposal was discussed in detail. Pursuant to the deliberations, it was decided that the AD/PTC shall readjust and rationalise its inauguration campaign plans through the clubbing of districts, thereby reducing the overall cost of the initiative. Considering the proposed scheduling, an amount of Rs300 million may be provided through a supplementary grant in CFY 2025-26 at this stage for arranging the earlier scheduled events. In the meantime, AD may proceed and resubmit the same once the final number of events and cost rationalisation is complete.”
After the Finance Department granted approval for Rs300 million, the summary was again moved to the provincial cabinet seeking an additional Rs900 million in favour of the PTC.
The summary stated: “An immediate enhancement of funds, over and above the Rs300 million already released, is urgently required to ensure the uninterrupted execution of all Phase-I events and Phase-II rollouts, thereby maintaining momentum and consolidating public goodwill. In view of the foregoing, it is proposed that the chief minister may kindly accord approval for placing the matter regarding the provision of additional funds amounting to Rs900 million as a grant in favour of the Punjab Transport Company before the provincial cabinet, through circulation, for its consideration and approval. This enhanced allocation is essential to successfully arrange the remaining inauguration and launch ceremonies, as well as the accompanying media campaigns, for the rollout of electric buses and e-depots across Punjab’s cities.”
Responding to questions, Transport and Mass Transit Department Secretary Imran Sikandar Baloch claimed that “the finance department has not rejected any summary. Opinions were given, which were decided by the cabinet.”
According to the PTC, “The e-bus project is part of the ADP 2024-25 and 2025-26. These are approved schemes by the P&D Department, and all costs are reflected in ADP documents. Expenditure on launching ceremonies will be finalised after vouched accounts. All government expenditures, including the e-bus projects, are subject to regular government audit, monitoring, and evaluation by P&D, as well as internal audit by auditors engaged by PTC. The project is funded by the Government of Punjab.”
The PTC said that it is currently executing several ADP schemes for the induction of eco-friendly buses and the construction of e-bus depots in various cities across Punjab’s divisions. For this purpose, PTC has entered into Turnkey/G2G agreements with M/s Wah Industries Limited (WIL) for the supply, operations and maintenance, and construction of e-bus depots and allied infrastructure.
The process of bus supply has already been initiated, and the first batch of buses was received from China in the second week of September 2025. The remaining batches are scheduled to arrive by mid-October and November 2025, it said.