The CM Punjab Bike Scheme is a Government of Punjab initiative. It helps enrolled students buy a motorcycle — petrol or electric — through interest-free installments. The provincial government pays the loan markup and part of the down payment. The official Punjab Government portal lists it as a Flagship Project. Two partners run it: the Bank of Punjab (BOP) handles financing, and the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) built and runs the digital registration and balloting system.
The idea behind it is simple. For many Punjab college and university students, the daily commute is one of the biggest drains on family budgets. Vans, rickshaws, and shared cabs add up fast. Routes to campus aren't always reliable either. A subsidized, interest-free bike removes that recurring cost. It also gives students control over their own schedule.
The scheme formally launched on April 16, 2024, under the name "Chief Minister Punjab Youth Initiative." The target: 20,000 bikes for regular students in HEC-recognized degree programs across Punjab. The Express Tribune covered the launch event. There, the Chief Minister handed the symbolic key of the first motorbike to a college student in Jampur. That detail matters if you're wondering whether this is a brand-new 2026 program. It isn't. It has run, grown, and changed for over two years, and 2026 marks its biggest expansion yet.
A detail most guides miss: in the original Phase 1 rollout, the scheme was mostly a petrol bike program. 19,000 of the 20,000 bikes were petrol motorcycles. Only 1,000 were electric. These figures come straight from the scheme's own portal. So why does 2026 news focus so heavily on electric bikes? Because the new expansion phase is 100,000 electric bikes only. That's a real strategic shift, not just a rebrand.


