KARACHI: Investment in the construction industry will double to Rs2,000 billion if the special construction package is extended for six months, Chairman of the Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) Fayyaz Ilyas said on Friday.

Quoting a statement of Minister of State for Information Farrukh Habib that Rs1,000bn has been invested in the construction industry after the announcement of the amnesty scheme, the ABAD chairman said a number of projects could not be registered under the scheme due to hurdles in approval, especially in Sindh.

“If these projects could be registered under this scheme, the investment would double from Rs1,000bn to Rs2,000bn,” Mr Ilyas said in a statement.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan had extended the date of the amnesty scheme to June 30. However, due to the fourth wave of Covid-19 and hurdles in approval of the projects, the date of this scheme may be extended to December 31 to fetch more investments in the construction and real estate businesses,” the ABAD statement read.

Mr Ilyas said that despite second and third wave of coronavirus, construction activities, especially production of steel, cement and other construction materials was on the rise due to the amnesty scheme. “Many of the allied industries are planning expansion to meet rising demands and some of them have imported billions of rupees machineries to expand their industries, which show that if the amnesty scheme is extended, Pakistan’s economy will get a boost,” the ABAD statement added.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2021