The World Bank has moved forward with appraisal and negotiations for the Connected Punjab programme, a $249 million digital transformation initiative aimed at expanding broadband connectivity, improving digital public services, and accelerating the adoption of cashless payments across Punjab. According to the Programme Information Document prepared for appraisal stage on May 21, 2026, the World Bank will provide $70 million in financing for the programme, including $68 million through Programme-for-Results financing and $2 million through an Investment Project Financing component for technical assistance, while the Government of Punjab will contribute $179 million from provincial resources, with the programme scheduled for World Bank Board consideration on June 26, 2026. The programme will be implemented by the Punjab Resource Management and Policy Unit, Punjab Revenue Authority, and Punjab Information Technology Board, and forms part of Punjab’s broader Governance and Digital Economy and Artificial Intelligence pillar under the Punjab Growth Strategy 2026-31.
The World Bank noted that despite progress in mobile broadband penetration, Pakistan continues to face serious structural bottlenecks in high-speed internet infrastructure, with fixed broadband remaining underdeveloped at only 2.6 million fibre-to-the-home connections nationwide, around half of which are located in Punjab, and only 17.9 percent of the country’s approximately 58,000 mobile towers connected through fibre networks, constraining the quality and reliability of digital services. To address this, the programme’s first results area will see Punjab facilitate private investment in fixed broadband infrastructure by streamlining Right-of-Way approvals and partially reimbursing eligible deployment costs in underserved urban areas. A digital Right-of-Way approval platform integrated with the Punjab Information Technology Board’s e-Biz portal and OneMap geospatial platform will be introduced to reduce administrative delays and standardise approvals across the province.
The programme also seeks to support artificial intelligence-enabled digital service delivery through shared computing infrastructure, including graphics processing unit-enabled compute-as-a-service facilities accessible to government agencies, startups, academia, and researchers, with Punjab intending to focus on localised artificial intelligence applications tailored to public service delivery and administrative workflows rather than investing in expensive foundational artificial intelligence models. The second results area will support deployment of artificial intelligence-based citizen services, expansion of open-data systems, data governance frameworks, cybersecurity protocols, and provincial strategies for personal data protection.
Under the third results area, the programme aims to promote a cashless economy through introduction of digital invoicing systems, integration of digital point-of-sale platforms, and expansion of electronic payment systems linked to compliance and taxation frameworks, with the World Bank observing that widespread reliance on cash transactions continues to limit transparency, transaction visibility, and formalisation in Punjab’s economy, and noting that digital payment ecosystems linked with invoicing and compliance systems could improve documentation, support fintech innovation, and strengthen provincial tax administration. The World Bank assessed overall environmental and social risks associated with the programme as moderate, with identified concerns including digital exclusion risks for low-income communities, resistance from businesses toward digital tax compliance measures, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, privacy concerns arising from centralised citizen data systems, and environmental risks linked to electronic waste generation and energy-intensive computing infrastructure.
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