ISLAMABAD, Sept 6: The government has decided to invest in the Pakistan Steel Mills to improve its working and make its ‘privatisable’ with better price in the light of the Supreme Court’s verdict.
“We are examining as to how much investment is required for the Steel Mills,” because it may not fetch good price in the existing form, said Minister for Industries and Production Jehangir Tareen at a news conference on Wednesday. He said the new investment was being considered in the light of the apex court’s judgment of last month. He, however, said there was no change in the privatisation policy.
The minister tried to dispel the impression that the government had given special favour to Sheikh Mukhtar of Multan and Arif Habib of PSM-case fame while granting ‘a last and final chance’ to set up Fatima Fertiliser in Sadiqabad by overruling his ministry’s recommendations.
“Arif Habib is a man of wealth and he is making investment and not acting as front man to anybody,” Mr Tareen said when asked why the name emerged in every scandal of the current government ranging from stock market crash to Pakistan Steel and Fatima Fertilizer.
The minister said People’s Party Parliamentarians MNA from Multan Shah Mehmood Qureshi had moved an adjournment motion against the Fatima Fertiliser because of his political rivalry with Mr Mukhtar.
He said under a decision of the Economic Coordination Committee the government would forfeit the $6.6 million guarantee to be given by Fatima Fertiliser Limited if its management failed to announce financial close for setting up a new plant by the extended 90-day deadline.
He said the sponsors of Fatima Fertiliser are required to submit the guarantee before Sept 29 and provide ‘full and final documentation’ from banks for Rs21 billion loans and opening of letters of credit for the import of all the equipment, including mobilisation advance.
He said he was not a minister when a request from Mari Gas Company was rejected when it being producer of the gas field wanted to set up a fertiliser plant by using 75 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCFD) instead of allocating it to Fatima group. He said the decision had been taken under the existing fertiliser policy.
The minister defended the government’s decision of extending deadline for the financial close to the firm, of which Arif Habib is a partner, saying that it had been done in good faith. “We did want to give them a chance,” he said. However, it failed to announce financial close within the given time, which was necessary for setting up new plant. The FFL should start production by August 2008, he said.
He said PSM Chairman Abdul Qayyum had been given extension till further orders by the prime minister when his contract expired in January.
Mr Tareen said the new industrial policy was expected to be announced in October. Around 95 per cent of work on the policy had been completed. “The ministry of industries wanted to have implementation mechanism in place before the policy was announced,” he said when asked why it had been put in abeyance for the past 15 months. He said most of mechanism was now in place.
He said that the ministry had set up sector development companies for dairy, marble, granite, gems and jewellery, furniture, surgical goods, horticulture, sports etc.
The government, he said, wanted to formalise the Darra Adamkhel arms industry to enable it to produce export-quality sporting and hunting weapons. Currently, around 6,000 weapons are exported in a year. “We believe the potential of this area is of producing around 600,000 arms worth around $1 billion per year if these are improved in the shape of sporting and hunting arms,” he said.
Responding to a question, he rejected the impression that the industrial sector had failed to attract considerable investment. Big investment was coming in various sectors, including steel making, agriculture machinery and soft drinks, he said.
He said the National Vocational Training Authority had been established to help the government ensure skill improvement and upgrade technology.
The authority would train manual workers and disseminate information about the new machinery being adopted in other countries, he said.
