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ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has proposed a significant budget allocation for the fiscal year 2025-26, despite the slow pace of development and a major lapse in funds for the Karachi IT Park project under the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP), according to local media reports.
Official records indicate that while the project’s total estimated cost stands at Rs31.19 billion, only Rs837.9 million has been utilized. The initiative has achieved just 10 percent physical progress and a mere 2 percent financial progress, raising concerns about its delayed execution. Despite these setbacks, the ministry is pushing for a substantial budget allocation in the upcoming fiscal year.
The Karachi IT Park is being developed under PSDP with significant foreign funding amounting to Rs26.47 billion. In the current financial year, Rs6.08 billion was allocated for the project, yet only a fraction has been spent, resulting in a substantial budget lapse.
According to the documents, the design phase has been completed by the Korean Design Consortium, and the Exim Bank has approved the Request for Proposal (RFP) for contractor selection. The Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has submitted a position paper through the IT Ministry to the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives for approval to move forward with the procurement process.
Once operational, the Karachi IT Park will span 110,000 square meters over six acres, featuring 240 office spaces, an incubation center with 30 startup offices, a business development hub, an industry-academia collaboration center, a data center, and R&D labs. It is projected to generate 9,000 direct IT jobs and over 10,000 indirect employment opportunities, playing a crucial role in Pakistan’s digital economy.
The project, titled “Establishment of IT Park, Karachi,” was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on June 4, 2021, with an initial budget of Rs41.39 billion ($186.66 million). The funding includes a Rs35.13 billion ($158.41 million) loan from the Korean Exim Bank and a local contribution of Rs6.25 billion ($28.24 million) from PSDP. Federal IT Minister Syed Amin ul Haque laid the foundation stone for the project in November 2022.
