The tender for the National AI Advancement Initiative allows the winning bidder to use the state-backed National Incubation Centre network. Bids close 19 August.
Stage: tendering
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication published a request for proposals on 26 July for seven artificial intelligence hubs, in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit. The document, numbered 1-2/2025-IT/NAAI/ADIM/AI-HUB/01 and posted on the federal e-procurement system, carries a provision that went unreported in coverage of the announcement: in its evaluation section, it states that wherever feasible and subject to the ministry’s approval, the successful bidder may use the existing National Incubation Centre network to establish and operate the hubs.
Five of the seven cities already have one. The ministry’s own project page lists eight National Incubation Centres built by Ignite, the state technology fund — in Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, Karachi, Peshawar and Hyderabad, plus specialised centres in Faisalabad and Rawalpindi — with a ninth agreed for Sialkot in June. Only Muzaffarabad and Gilgit are outside the existing network.
The provision is permissive rather than binding. But it sits against a budget that leaves little room for building from scratch. According to the federal Public Sector Development Programme for 2026-27, the National AI Advancement Initiative was approved in June 2025 at a total project cost of 534.6 million rupees — roughly $1.9 million — while the RFP requires seven facilities of at least 5,000 square feet each, with workspace for twenty startups apiece, session halls, mentorship rooms and hybrid meeting infrastructure, to be run for two years.
The rest of the scope, as set out in the RFP, is programming. The winning bidder must induct two cohorts of twenty startups per hub each year — 280 a year, 560 over the two-year period — with each startup incubated for up to six months. It must also run two hackathons and four awareness sessions, and design and administer a nationwide mechanism for 150 non-dilutive seed grants. The RFP specifies that the grant money is funded separately by the ministry and sits outside the bidder’s financial proposal, and that final approval, award and the size of each grant remain the ministry’s decision alone.
The contract structure is shorter than the programme it funds. The document states the contract will initially be awarded for one year and may be extended by a second, though bidders must price two years in their financial proposal. The 560-startup target only arrives if the extension does.
Bidders may apply as a single entity or as a joint venture or consortium under a lead bidder. The RFP sets bid security at 3 million rupees, with a 10 per cent performance bond and a 20 per cent mobilisation advance on award. Technical proposals are scored out of 150 marks, with 105 required to have the financial envelope opened, and the final award weighted 70 per cent technical to 30 per cent financial. Bids close at 2pm on 19 August, with technical envelopes opened the same afternoon.
