Punjab to set up ‘modern’ produce exchange in Lahore

Multibillion-rupee initiative will later expand to three other cities

LAHORE: The Punjab government has introduced major changes in a five-year-old project to modernise and expand regional fruit and vegetable distribution.

The project was initiated in the early days of the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has now decided to seek support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the project.

Accordingly, 1,045 kanals at Lakhodair, which were procured for shifting the Badami Bagh Fruit and Vegetable Market, will no longer be utilised for this purpose. The Lakhodair land will be used to set up a modern produce exchange.



The current Badami Bagh market will now be given the status of a wholesale market. After the change, the PML-N government’s section four notification regarding the acquisition of a further 560 kanals for building a market at Lakhodair was withdrawn.

The Badami Bagh market was built in 1969 on 205 kanals. It was the biggest vegetable and fruit market in the province and the second biggest in the country after the market in Karachi.

In the wake of growing business volume and congestion in the area, in 2014 former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif accepted a recommendation from his son, Hamza Shehbaz - then an MNA and current opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly - and tasked the provincial agricultural department with preparing a plan for shifting the market to a larger area.

In 2015, the agricultural department procured 1,045 kanals in Lakhodair at a cost of Rs350 million and started with the design for the new market.

The initial plan was for the project to be completed at a cost of Rs5 billion. In 2015, however, the department released a notification for the acquisition of another 560 kanals, but in 2018, after the change of government, the PTI-led provincial government did not release Rs160 million still due for the land.



Subsequently, the PTI-led government cancelled the acquisition plan and completely changed the project layout, sources said. The previously-acquired 1,045 kanals will now be used for the establishment of the country’s first auction market with support from the ADB. The new market will be equipped with a state-of-the-art auction system and cold storage facilities typical of markets in developed countries and will incorporate digital protocols for grading and auctioning of produce.

Meanwhile, the existing Badami Bagh market will be elevated to the status of a wholesale market after the new produce exchange is ready.

Under the agriculture policy proposed by PTI leader Jahangir Tareen, more state-of-the-art auction markets will be set up in other parts in Rawalpindi, DG Khan, and Hafizabad. Lakhodair and the other markets, sources said, would cost over Rs22 billion to build.

According to government officials, the provincial government may consider eventually shifting Badami Bagh market to some other location if the need arises in the future. The PM’s project for agricultural development includes shifting seven big markets in Punjab and upgrading 54 markets, for which Rs1.2 billion has been earmarked.

Meanwhile, traders at the Badami Bagh market have expressed concerns over the new project and the government’s decision to change the earlier plan.

Punjab Agriculture Minister Nauman Langrial told The Express Tribune that Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken significant measures for the development of agriculture and for farmers’ prosperity, noting that around Rs309 billion worth of projects have been announced.

He confirmed that the country’s first modern produce exchange will be set up in Lakhodair. He also confirmed that similar modern exchanges will be set up in other three cities, explaining that farmers will be able to get the best value for their produce through the modernisation of markets and the government’s efforts to ensure easy access to the new facilities.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2019.

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