The Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday approved the proposal to cap the number of de-addiction centres that an entity can run at five.

The nod to the Punjab Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Counselling and Rehabilitation Centres Rules, 2025, was given in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Presently, there are 36 government and 177 private de-addiction centres in the state. According to data, 117 of these were being run by 10 businessmen. Three of the businessmen have factories in Gujarat and Meerut to manufacture buprenorphin and nalaxone salt, given to addicts to wean them off from narcotics.

While an Amritsar-based businessman (now deceased) was running 21 centres, 22 were allotted to a Barnala-based businessman, which were sealed after he was arrested by the Vigilance Bure

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