LAHORE: The caretaker Punjab government has increased the reserve price for auction of contracts of nine divisional cattle markets in the province by 30 percent and has fixed the bid starting price as Rs 3.70 billion for the coming fiscal year, while the bidding would be held during the first week of next month.

Caretaker Punjab Local Government Minister Ibrahim Murad disclosed this while talking to the media here on Thursday after chairing a meeting to review arrangements for auction of cattle markets which was participated by Chief Executive Officer of Punjab Cattle Market Management and Development Company Abdul Latif Khan, General Manager Business Planning and Internal Auditor besides other relevant officials.

The meeting was told that the cattle markets will be auctioned as per schedule; the markets at Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad would be brought under hammer on May 5. Cattle markets at Sargodha, Rawalpindi and Sahiwal will be auctioned on May 6, while the auction of cattle markets at Gujranwala, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan would be held on May 8.

The Minister directed the officials concerned for taking all out measures for holding the said auction in a fair and transparent manner. He asked them to launch a special media campaign for publicise the date, time, venue and bid starting price to ensure participation of maximum number of bidders for generating healthy competition at this occasion.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023