Bhalwal, Rahimyar Khan industrial estates: PIE financing projects through its own resources

Punjab Industrial Estate Development Management Company (PIE) has started development work on Bhalwal and Rahim Yar Khan industrial estates while planning of development of ten industrial estates in the province is also under way. The company is executing development work through its own resources, said PIE Chairman S.M. Tanveer while talking to Business Recorder, here on Wednesday.
He said that the PIE has also planned to set up a tannery park and a cutlery cluster in Kasur and Wazirabad respectively, in addition to other industrial estates which would be established in other cities of the province like Gujrat, Vehari, Bahawalpur, D G Khan, Jhang, Okara, Sahiwal and Rawalpindi. The industries to be set up in these industrial estates would help generate 192,000 jobs besides contributing Rs 17 billion to the country's GDP, the PIE chairman added.
With a view to tap the existing potential in Halal meat exports, PIE has planned to establish Halal Parks in Rahim Yar Khan and Multan on an area of 100-acre each. The parks being developed in both the cities would give a boost to the export of Halal meat in the world market which would be an encouraging step toward value addition rather than exporting live animals, he said. As a result, the country would be earning a good amount of foreign exchange on the one hand and provide raw material to the local leather industry on the other, he added.
Tanveer further said that the master plans of Bahlwal industrial estate and Multan industrial estates were completed in time but unfortunately litigation caused delay in execution of Multan industrial estates Phase-II. He, however, added the issues related to litigation in Multan have now been resolved enabling the company to restart development work on Phase-II.
He further revealed that an area of 1590 acres has been acquired for setting up of industrial estates in Rahim Yar Khan, Bhalwal and Multan Phase-II out of which 1094 acres of land ie 70 percent will be turned into industrial plots while remaining 30 percent would be utilised for horticulture and infrastructure development.
Talking about the prevailing energy crisis in the country, the chairman PIE said the company has planned to set up 50-MW coal based power plant at the Sundar Industrial Estate while process for getting license from Nepra has also started. Besides, extension work of 132 KVA grid station of PIE is also under progress which would add 34 MW more electricity in the industrial estate system to ensure uninterrupted availability of power to the industries at the Sundar Industrial Estate (SIE), he added.
He said that PIEDMC has made the Public Private Partnership concept successful, as it is completing development projects without any financial support from the government institutions. At the time of establishment of PIE, the Punjab government gave Rs 1 billion as seed money but now it has become Rs 15 billion worth company.
The PIE Board of Directors has approved the accounts from 2005 to 2008 besides appointing internal and external auditors of international repute with a spirit of self-accountability, he added. Tanveer also said that Sundar Industrial Estate is the state-of-the-art estate in Pakistan where all utilities and offices of concerned departments like Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Company, Employee Old-age Benefit Institution and Social Security were established.