The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP), in a meeting held at the Cabinet Block, approved the open auction bidding of 27 idle land assets which were owned by the federal government. This has irked some interest among investors in overseas Pakistanis who are looking for lucrative investment opportunities. In this blog, we will be covering when the auctioning of state-owned land will take place and other relevant details.
Without further ado, let’s get started.
All There is to Know About the Auctioning of State-Owned Land
The Board of the Privatisation Commission in the meeting held on 4 Feb, 2020, also presented the transaction structure of the sale of the state-owned land and how the process will take place.
It was approved by the members of the Cabinet Committee, which was chaired by the Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Mr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, that the auction bidding process will begin in the month of March and it will take only two months to complete the auction of 27 state-owned properties. The main purpose or the idea behind these state land auctions is to utilize useless and unproductive public properties to earn revenue for the national kitty and to contribute in paying off the country’s debt.
Initially, 32 state-owned lands by the federal government were identified in major cities of Pakistan. These abandoned properties which were worth billions of rupees were to be auctioned and the revenue generated from it would be spent on public welfare initiatives such as in the construction of schools, hospitals and in providing better amenities to the people.
However, out of these, five of the properties had been deleted from the auction list. From those five abandoned state properties, two land assets in Karachi and one in Lahore, worth above PKR 5 billion, will be used to build low-cost houses under Naya Pakistan Housing Programme, a flagship government initiative to address the problem of housing shortage in Pakistan.
Investment Opportunity for Overseas Pakistanis
In December 2019, for the first time ever, the government of Pakistan participated in the Pakistan Property Show (2019) at the World Trade Center in Dubai, which was organized by Zameen.com. Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan had instructed the Privatisation Commission to engage with the overseas Pakistanis, who would be interested in buying state-owned land.
At Pakistan Property Show hosted by Zameen.com, many overseas Pakistani investors from Dubai, Qatar and other countries showed keen interest in buying the said properties from the federal government. After the Property Show, the Privatisation Commission decided to schedule the auction of state land assets by the government.
Let us take a look at when the auctioning of state-owned land is expected to take place.
When Will the Auction of Land Assets by Government Take Place?
It is expected that the auction of the said properties will begin in the month of March and it will generate approximately PKR 6.6 billion revenue. With the amount of revenue generated from the state-owned properties, the government aims to increase the non-tax revenue under the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s new condition.
The 27 properties will be open for bidding and the process will take place in two months. It is a golden opportunity for overseas Pakistanis to invest in government-owned land. The estimated time-frame decided for the auction is April 2020.
So, this was all there was to know about the auctioning of state-owned lands. If you are an overseas Pakistani looking for good investment options in Pakistan then keep visiting this page as we would update the blog as soon as the official advertisement and other important information is released.
For more updates, stay tuned to the best real estate blog in Pakistan. Don’t forget to write to us at blog@zameen.com and we will surely get back to you.
