Punjab Offers Zero Duty On Machinery Imports And 10-Year Income Tax Exemption To Attract Investors: Industries Minister Shafay Hussain Unveils Free Economic Zone Policy At Colour & Chem Expo As Chinese Firms Move In With EV Battery And Vivo Chip Frame Plants
According to The Express Tribune, Punjab Industries Minister Shafay Hussain announced a new industrial policy on July 19, 2026 offering zero per cent duty on machinery imports and a 10-year income tax exemption for industries establishing themselves in the province’s designated free economic zones at Sheikhupura, Bhalwal and Rahim Yar Khan.
Speaking at the 11th Colour & Chem Expo 2026 in Lahore, Hussain added that investors can access four-year lease offers and a 30-day NOC timeline to fast-track factory establishment. A new loan scheme of up to Rs100 million for large-scale industrialists is also being introduced alongside infrastructure funds for 24 small industrial estates across the province.
New industries are already taking shape. Chinese companies are setting up production in pharmaceuticals, synthetic leather, food processing, lithium batteries, electric bikes, and tiles. Vivo Mobile’s chip frame manufacturing plant is 40 per cent complete and expected to begin production within a year, while lithium battery manufacturing by Chinese firms is imminent.
Seventy per cent of traders have already benefited from the Asaan Tajir Scheme. However, industry voices at the expo sounded a note of caution. LCCI President Faheemur Rehman Sehgal called for a reduction in the petroleum levy to ease business costs, while FPCCI Senior Vice President Saqib Fayyaz Magoon warned that rising production costs have already forced several multinational companies to scale down or withdraw from Pakistan in recent months.
The offer is credible on paper — zero duty and a decade-long tax holiday is exactly the kind of headline incentive that drives comparative location decisions. The harder question is whether the 30-day NOC promise holds in practice, and whether the ongoing energy cost crisis will be addressed before these incentives can meaningfully compete with regional industrial alternatives.
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