KARACHI: Pakistan Association of Large Steel Producers (PALSP) on Monday rejected the `irresponsible’ statements made by Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) against the steel sector and said that real estate builders and developers were the biggest barriers to affordable housing in the country.

Recently, ABAD had dubbed the incre­ase in the prices of rebars as a conspiracy against PM’s Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme.

“Prices of homes, apartments and office spaces — particularly in urban areas, have increased significantly over the past few years due to an increasing appetite of real estate developers for high margins,” PALSP Secretary General Syed Wajid Bukhari said. He urged the government to fix the prices of various categories of residential and commercial projects.

Scathing response to ABAD allegation that steel producers are out to torpedo PM’s housing scheme

Since there is very little transparency in the real estate development sector, the government needs to audit the income tax contribution of such lucrative ventures, he said.

After a huge amnesty given to the builders and developers to whiten black money, further oversight from the government needs to ensure that unaccounted and undeclared wealth (black money) is not being used moving forward, Mr Bukhari added.

Over the period ranging from August 2020 to August 2021, scrap prices (C&F Karachi) had shot up from $299 to $530, accounting for a 79pc increase in raw material cost. Electricity cost over the same period also jumped 37pc from Rs 13 to Rs 20 per unit, followed by RLNL price by 90pc and ferro alloys (a raw material used for steel making) by 58pc.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2021