Karachi:
After condemning federal and Sindh budgets for 2025-26, business leaders called for compulsory amendments before their approval.
They said that none of the two budgets won serious commitments or offers direct financial relief to micro and small businesses. They demanded substantial revisions to increase allowances to development projects focused on Karachi. The prosperity of Pakistan is linked to that of Karachi, they said, warning that the negligence of the city amounts to sabotage the national economy.
The president of the Business Men’s Group (BMG), Zubair Motiwala and the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Muhammad Jawed Bilwani, falsified federal and Sindh budgets to avoid the needs of Karachi. Condemning so deeply disappointing and discriminatory budgets towards Karachi, the country’s economic center, they expressed serious concerns about continuous neglect and the denial of essential development funds in Karachi and Sindh as a whole.
Motiwala and Bilwani warned that chronic under-investment allowances and the tokens’ budget will worsen the city’s infrastructure, civic conditions and business confidence.
They stressed that Karachi contributes 67% to the national chessboard, 90% of provincial income and 54% of the country’s exports. The denying equitable development funds is not only a regional injustice, but a national threat, they deplored. They called on federal and provincial governments to revise their priorities and to ensure that Karachi receives his due date. The time for symbolic allowances is over. The citizens and the business community of Karachi now require concrete action, adequate funding and a political will.
The two leaders also underlined the under-financing of the Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway, a key project for the connectivity of Sindh and Karachi. Although the cost of the project exceeds 400 billion rupees, the federal budget allocated only 15 billion rupees – an amount which, according to them, reflects the contempt for the development priorities of the Sindh.
Karachi, the commercial capital of Pakistan, would directly benefit from the completion of the project, which makes the lack of funding more worrying. Similarly, they highlighted the blocked K-IV water supply project. Although it is critical for a karachi hungry by water, the project remains in limbo.
Although the senior officials, including the Prime Minister, have repeatedly promised support, the federal government has only allocated 3.2 billion rupees of 150 billion required.
This minimum allowance, she said, sheds doubt about the gravity of the government concerning the resolution of the Karachi water crisis.
KCCI leaders expressed their disappointment with the Sindh 2025-26 budget, saying the provincial government had not met Karachi’s needs either. In its development expenses, the Sindh government has only allocated 100 million rupees for the K-IV project and 15 billion rupees for the Sukkur-Hyderabad highway-of the amounts they have qualified for the execution of the project.
Pleasant, they said, it marks the third year without a single new mega project for Karachi. The only decision was an allowance of 8 billion rupees to continue previous projects, most of which are progressing at a snail rate. They criticized the continuous delay in the K-IV project. Despite the growing demand for water demand, the city’s rescue buoy remains blocked. Meanwhile, millions of gallons are wasted and unloaded in the sea, while residents and industries undergo water shortages.
The president of the Federal B Area of Trade & Industry (FBATI), Shaikh Muhammad Tehseen, also criticized the inadequate allowances of the two governments of the industrial sector, infrastructure and Karachi water projects.
The budget does not reflect any serious effort to solve chronic industrial problems such as ruined infrastructure, water scarcity and power instability-which all undermine the productivity and confidence of investors, he said. He urged the two governments to revisit their budgetary decisions and to allocate enough resources to support the Renaissance of the industrial sector. The former president of the Hyderabad Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industry (HCSTSI), Muhammad Farooq Shaikhani, said that the federal budget includes digital reforms and political initiatives of SMEs that sound well on paper but offer no direct financial relief for micro and small businesses.
He said new taxes on digital services and cash delivery (COD) are premature and catch small businesses. Although the Sindh budget includes infrastructure funds and social sectors, it does not favor industrial zones or the support of SMEs.
The two budgets, he said, focus on macroeconomic objectives but ignore the sustainability of basic affairs. There is a clear gap between the collection of government documents and the real incentives offered to small traders and manufacturers.
Shaikhani added that the two budgets fail to create an environment conducive to small businesses.
The federal budget introduces new taxes – on digital services, delivery species (COD) and higher restraint rates – without providing simplified or financial support for small businesses. The Sindh budget also neglects commercial infrastructure and does not offer any tax relief or subsidies to SMEs. He fails to resolve the increase in the cost of energy and unaffordable raw materials, he said.
Without practical incentives or consultations with the affected sectors, the two budgets seem more focused on collecting income than on industrial or commercial development, he added.
