LAHORE: The Punjab Industrial Estates Development and Management Company (PIEDMC) has approached the federal and the provincial government to give it access to the state land in the urban and suburban areas in Punjab either free of cost or at discounted rates for the development of low-cost Cottage Business Residence Parks (CBRPs).

The PIEDMC management has already briefed Prime Minister Imran Khan about its proposal, who is said to be very enthusiastic about the project that will help encourage cottage and small manufacturing in an organised manner and create employment opportunities.

The intent of the proposed CBRPs is to provide an opportunity for the development of low impact commercial uses as home occupations and cottage industries by allowing the cottage business-owners to also use their premises as their family residence.

The idea is to create such parks in or near all cities in the province on 10-50 acres of land. The PIEDMC, a company set up by the provincial government in early 2000s in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode, believes that the creation of such parks for the cottage industries will have multiple advantages.

“This will help relocate unorganised cottage business scattered in the cities, provide entrepreneurs with limited financial resources low-cost space for undertaking light manufacturing and other commercial activities and use the premises as family residence, increase female employment and so on,” PIEDMC chairman Syed Nabeel Hashmi told this reporter.

He said the company required land near customer base of the cottage industries, which usually exists in or near cities. “These projects will have their independent boards of management comprising entrepreneurs engaged in commercial activity there with complete responsibility to manage these business parks. These clusters of cottage industry will help the business-owners control their cost of doing business and grow faster. This concept will help provide low-cost housing to thousands and create substantial number of family jobs.”

The PIEDMC management believes that the government and its ministries have millions of acres of land in and near urban areas that is either lying unused or illegally occupied by land grabbers. The commercial use of such land can help contribute to housing problem for the low-income groups as well as generate jobs. The residence-cum-industrial housing model is common in many countries and is contributing significantly to their economy.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2019