Connected Punjab (WB-P513786)

Countries
  • Pakistan
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Punjab
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Jun 30, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Communications
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 70.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 70.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 278.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Oct 15, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Nov 20, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to bank's website, the approved project aims to increase access to broadband internet in Punjab, improve digital service delivery, and enhance cashless transactions. Connected Punjab Program has a US$68m PforR and a US$2m as an IPF component for technical assistance. The PforR has the following Results Areas:• Result Area 1 (RA1): Improving Access to High-Speed Internet, which focuses on enabling private sector investment in fixed broadband expansion in underserved urbanized areas by addressing regulatory and cost barriers.• Result Area 2 (RA2): Improving Digital Service Delivery, which focuses on strengthening shared digital infrastructure and institutional capacity to support scalable, AI-enabled service delivery.• Result Area 3 (RA3): Increasing Adoption of Cashless Payments, which focuses on establishing the regulatory and systems foundations for digital invoicing, payments, and compliance.The Program has seven disbursement linked indicators, including: DLI 1: Target urbanized areas for broadband coverage identifiedDLI 2: People covered by fixed broadband internetDLI 3: Public and private sectors using compute-as-a-service for localized AI use case developmentDLI 4: Number of AI enabled services provided (developed by public and private sector)DLI 5: Regulatory framework for Point-of-Sale (PoS) system providers in Punjab approvedDLI 6: Digital Invoice Management System OperationalizedDLI 7: Number of business sectors using non-conventional digital point-of-sale payment platform integrated with DIMS The Program will be managed by the Planning and Development Board (P&DB) of the Government of Punjab (GoPb) through its Punjab Resource Management and Policy Unit (PRMPU). The PRMPU, an attached unit of the P&DB, will be responsible for both the PforR operation and the associated IPF component. An Integrated Program Management Unit (PMU), housed within PRMPU and financed under the IPF component, will provide cross-cutting support; coordinate annual work planning; support fiduciary and procurement functions under the IPF component; consolidate monitoring and evaluation; facilitate DLI verification processes; and deliver targeted technical assistance and capacity building to PITB and PRA. 

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

Environmental and Social Risk: M

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Total Project Cost: US$ 278.00 million

Commitment Amount: US$ 70.00 million 


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Task Team Leader: Shahbaz Khan 

Title: Senior Digital Specialist 

Email: shahbaz@worldbank.org 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To submit an information request for project information, you will have to create an account to access the Access to Information request form. You can learn more about this process at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information/request-submission

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. Information on how to file a complaint and a complaint request form are available at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org/how-to-file-complaint

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