PESHAWAR, Sept 25: The NWFP government’s intended move to privatize the multi-million-rupee Ceramic Development Centre received a setback due to the private sector’s lukewarm response to the offer, according to well-placed official sources.

“The provincial government,” said a finance manager of the province, “wants to dispose of the project as quickly as possible to fulfil its commitments with a foreign donor”.

But the lukewarm response given to the recently-concluded bidding process on the part of the private sector has apparently shattered the government’s bid to privatize the project. It had been established by the government in the mid 1980s with an explicit purpose of imparting training to produce skilled labour for the marble crockery and table-wares manufacturing sector.

The government wants to sell the project at a price close to Rs40m.

However, the highest offer the government received in the bidding process was less than Rs10m.

The government had to invite bids a second time for the project after no one showed interest the first time it was marketed for privatization some time back.

“How can we dispose of the project at a price as low as Rs6m and Rs7m,” said an officer, adding that “we have tried to convince the donor agency about the fact that we can’t privatize it at a throw-away price”.

The project failed to attract prospective buyers even during the second bidding process which took place recently.

“Very few from the private sector opted to take part in the recent bidding,” said an officer of the industries department, NWFP.

“At least we should get the actual market price of the land involved in the project,” said another official source.

According to him, the highest offer made for the project during the bidding was not even close to the market value of the land.

Situated at Akkora Khattak — on way to Islamabad from Peshawar — the Ceramic Development Centre would need to have its machinery upgraded so that it became usable for commercial purposes, said an officer.

“Though the machinery had been imported from Japan and was installed by the Japanese experts, it needs modernization,” said the officer while explaining reasons for its being less attractive for the private sector.

The project is closed for the last four years after the provincial government stopped providing it funds to carry out its training activities.