Chief Minister says World Bank door-to-door assessments identified 3.1 million properties
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah speaks during a press conference on Wednesday. Photo: NNI
KARACHI:
City dwellers, who complain about a lack of civic services and crumbling infrastructure, will soon receive property tax notices for their homes and stores located on dilapidated roads dug up with overflowing sewage.
To meet the World Bank’s conditions for more loans, the Sindh government carried out a door-to-door survey to optimize tax collection.
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday told a World Bank delegation that door-to-door assessments for urban property tax have identified 3.1 million out of 3.3 million properties, with fund reallocations approved in the Project Steering Committee.
He chaired a sector review meeting with a 10-member high-level delegation from the World Bank, led by National Director Bolormaa Amgaabazar, to assess ongoing development projects and chart future priorities for the province.
Speaking at the meeting, CM Shah described the partnership with the World Bank as a cornerstone of Sindh’s reform and recovery agenda. “Our goal is to achieve faster implementation, stronger results and a visible impact for citizens,” he said.
Currently, 13 projects supported by the WB are underway in Sindh, with a total cost of 3.8 billion dollars, of which 1.96 billion have already been disbursed. For fiscal year 2025-26, a baseline disbursement target of $700.25 million has been set. Key projects in urban development, transportation and municipal services include the $230 million Karachi Competitive and Livable City project, the $382 million Karachi Mobility Project and the $100 million Solid Waste Efficiency and Emergency Project.
The meeting was informed that 161 Municipal People’s Committee projects worth $66.7 million are underway, and 47 have already been completed, achieving an overall physical progress of 61%. Similarly, eight Karachi Metropolitan Corporation projects totaling $19 million are in progress, and four projects in the procurement stage are expected to be awarded by December 16, 2025.
Regarding the urban property tax study, door-to-door assessments have identified 3.1 million of 3.3 million properties, and the reallocations of funds were approved in the Project Steering Committee.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has highlighted significant progress in the governance, infrastructure, education, health and social protection sectors, highlighting the launch of the second wave of the Sindh Business Single Window System (SBOSS) on November 28, 2025. So far, 13 out of 19 institutions have been integrated, 54 out of 130 regulatory licenses have been digitized and 4,089 e-permits have been issued. The third wave, covering six institutions and the remaining 76 licenses, is expected in May 2026.
