PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to grant special incentives and infrastructure facilities to industrial investors saying this will lead to the generation of up to 0.3 million job opportunities in the province.

The decision was made during a high-level meeting of Economic Zones Development and Management Company at the CM Secretariat on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak chaired the meeting, where provincial energy and power minister Atif Khan, MNA Dr Imran Khattak, chairman of the Chief Minister’s Complaint Cell Dilroz Khan, officials of the relevant departments and representatives of the EZDMC were in attendance.

A statement issued here said the provincial government was determined to generate massive job opportunities through sustainable industrialisation to overcome unemployment.

The relevant officials informed participants that the EZDMC had partially assumed the role of Sarhad Development Authority (SDA) for the management of industrial estates of the province and that it had planned to establish four new and modern industrial estates in Hattar, Ghazi, Jalozai and Rashakai at a cost of Rs10.383 billion in next three years.

They said the new industrial estates would be equipped with all necessary and modern infrastructure and get uninterrupted provision of gas and electricity, while loans would be offered to establish industries.

CM asks department to get centre’s nod for power generation from gas

The officials said the proposed estates to be developed on park-like environment approach would be provided with the latest facilities of captive power generation, natural gas supply, water supply, sewerage and affluent treatment system, telecom and IT infrastructure, centralised commercial area, vocational training centre, solid waste management, firefighting, emergency medical care, security, controlled access and several other necessities. Supporting the EZDMC’s recommendations for viable industrial growth in the province, the chief minister said the location and other disadvantages had always been identified as main cause of industrial decline in the province.

He, however, said the government was fully committed to reviving the industrial sector and that it would make all-out efforts to ensure creation of extremely favourable environment for industrialisation. Khattak said since overcoming unemployment through industrial development was part of the PTI’s vision for poverty alleviation and economic stability, no stone would be left unturned to achieve the goal.

He directed the energy and power department to approach the federal government for obtaining necessary permission to generate electricity from the natural gas reserves of the province. The chief minister said the electricity produced under such arrangement would be provided to industrial units only at much cheaper rates and thus, helping attract industrial investors from other provinces as well.

“Without granting special and attractive incentive, the goal of sustainable industrialisation and economic stability is rather impossible to achieve,” he said.

Khattak directed the industries department to fully implement his earlier orders for handing over the management of all industrial estates of the province to the EZDMC and transfer the SDA assets to the company. He directed the finance department to give the EZDMC Rs600 million allocated under the current ADP and said the additional grant of Rs573 million would also be issued for the establishment of Phase VII of Hattar Industrial Estate.

Published in Dawn October 1st, 2015

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