QUETTA: The Balochistan government is all set to take over the Saindak copper-cum-gold project in October this year.

It was decided at a meeting between Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri in Islamabad.

“It has been decided, in principle, that the Saindak project, being run by the Metallurgical Company of China (MCC), will be handed over to Balochistan after the expiry of the five-year lease agreement in October 2017,” said a source.

According to the terms and conditions of the lease agreement signed in 2012, the provincial government had been receiving 25 per cent share of net profit from the Chinese company.

Sources privy to proceedings of the meeting said the Balochistan government, after taking over the project, might either extend the lease agreement with the MCC or float international bids and seek an enhanced share in its profit.

The province, the sources said, had been pursuing its case with the federal government to take over Saindak and explore the precious metals itself after the passage of the 18th Amendment in the Constitution.

Official sources said here on Tuesday that the Balochistan chief minister, during the meeting with the federal minister, maintained that in view of the 18th Amendment, exploration rights of the Saindak project should be handed over to the provincial government.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Balochistan Chief Secretary Saifullah Chattah, Secretary for Mines and Minerals Saleh Baloch and the director general of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources.

The sources revealed to Dawn that a committee, to be headed by the chief secretary, would hold negotiations with the MCC of China on the conditions of the Balochistan government for an extension in the lease of the project.

The Balochistan government, it is learnt, would be empowered to take any decision about the future of the project and float international bids to award the lease to the highest bidder. “The bidding process will be made fair and transparent.”

During the meeting, Mr Abbasi also assured the chief minister that a suggestion would be forwarded to the federal cabinet to transfer Rs29 billion investments, which the federal government had made in the Saindak project to purchase heavy machinery, to the Balochistan government as a gesture of goodwill.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2017