Punjab Industrial Estates Development and Management Company's Director, Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi has said that Punjab chief minister, Mian Shahbaz Sharif took special interest to execute the project of Multan Industrial Estate phase-II. The project is aimed at providing a space similar to Sunder Industrial Estate to Southern Punjab for industrial activities and to attract investors.
Talking to newsmen here Sunday, he said that Multan Industrial Estate would be a hub of industrial and trade activities of Southern Punjab where all facilities of modern age would be available. He furthered that this project would generate around 100,000 jobs to the locals indirectly and would turn around present scenario of industrial activities in the area.
He noted that this project was hanging on fire for a long time but Punjab chief minister took personal interest to execute the project. Roomi said Punjab Industrial Estate has started infrastructure work on Multan Industrial Estate, phase II spread over 667 acres. He said that the estate would have 349 industrial plots, which would be allocated to different categories of industries. It is worthwhile to mention here that the project's first phase has already been completed where 237 industrial plots are constructed at 743 acres land. He said infrastructure development work was stopped for the last two years due to disputes with contractors and continued delay and litigation was causing 25 percent yearly escalation and hardship to the allottees. Now, these disputes have resolved and restarting of the project has been approved by board of directors of PIEDMC and development work on it has commenced, he added.
Multan Industrial Estate will become a role model, as is Sundar Industrial Estate in Lahore, he added. He said PIE has completed an initial work to install first-ever 30MW coal-power generation plant at Multan Industrial Estate and 50MW at SIE in Lahore while the process to get license from Nepra, in this regard, is underway. "PIE board of directors has established a power committee which will look after coal and other power-related projects of industrial estates in Punjab."
Roomi said the extension work of 132KVAgrid station of PIE is also underway to add an additional 34MW to ensure uninterrupted power supply to SIE industries. PIE management started industrial estate development work in Rahim Yar Khan and Bhalwal with its own resources, he said, adding that the planning and development of 10 other industrial estates in the province was also underway. These industrial estates would be established in Vehari, Bahawalpur, D.G Khan, Jhang, Okara, Sahiwal, Kasur Tannery Park, Gujrat, Wazirabad Cutlery Cluster, and Rawalpindi, he said.
He further said PIE is working under the vision of the Punjab CM to make the province an industrial hub in the country with all modern facilities. He said Halal Park would be established in Rahim Yar Khan and Multan industrial estates to promote Halal products of Pakistan and get its share from he global Halal food market. He said PIEDMC has developed public private partnership concept successful by completing its projects without the support of any government institution.
About the financial issues of the company, he said PIE BoD has approved accounts from 2005 to 2008 while internal and external auditors having international repute were appointed for self-accountability. He said the MIE would be state-of-the-art industrial estate in Pakistan where all utilities and offices of departments concerned, including SNGPL, EOBI and Social Security, are being established like SIE.
PIEDMC director informed, "PIEDMC is also under process of developing Rahim Yar Khan, Bhalwal, Multan Phase-II and Vehari industrial estates on 1,590 acres of available land which will help create 192,000 new jobs". "The objective of developing these industrial estates is to provide the intending investors with modern infrastructure facilities for setting up factories and helping kick-start economic activities and growth in the province". The company has already signed MoUs with prospective investors interested in setting up industrial units in these areas once the estates are completed. "Signing of MoUs is important because it helps us assess the need for industrial estates in a particular area," he added.
He said the estates will help to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and bring down the poverty levels in the province. "We intend to carry out all these projects with funds generated by the PIEDMC from the sale of plots in the first such modern industrial estate developed at Sundar near Lahore. He said the company is also working to provide missing facilities to the businessmen having their units at MIE by restarting work there. He said the PIEDMC will generate a substantial amount of money from the sale of 258 plots at MIE. "This money will also be leveraged for the development of new estates in the rest of the province." In addition to the industrial estates, Punjab government plans to develop a new industrial estate along Lahore-Islamabad Motorway.
It has allocated Rs2.5 billion for the purpose of acquiring 10,000 acres of land for the proposed industrial estates where Chinese investors have expressed their interest to set up manufacturing facilities. The project is also likely to be managed by PIEDMC. We will not take any funds from the provincial government for this purpose and leverage our own resources for the new estates," he said, pledging to develop one modern industrial estate in all the districts of the province.
Roomi said that Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani took special interest in supplying natural gas to MIE and prohibited undeclared power load-shedding there for boosting industrial production.