ISLAMABAD: After failing to get any buyer for the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), the government has decided to revive the country’s largest steel production unit through the Ministry of Industries and Production.

The Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production was informed on Thursday that three out of four Chinese companies vying for PSM withdrew their interests.

MQM’s Khalida Ateeb, chairperson of the committee, inquired about the future of the PSM after it was taken off the privatisation list.

Secretary Privatisation Division Jawad Paul briefed the committee that the PSM was included in the privatisation list on June 17, 2019, however, the Privatisation Commission Board in its meeting held on Oct 6 decided to halt the privatisation process.

He added that having only one bidder raised concerns about transparency in the process.

Mr Paul said that the Privatisation Commission Board decision has been forwarded to the federal cabinet and after its approval, the Ministry of Industries and Production will be the line ministry of the PSM to make it operational.

Meanwhile, the officials of the PSM informed the committee that the state-owned entity was incurring an annual loss of around Rs30 billion and it had more than 3,000 employees with only three officers.

The officials informed that while there were 589 staff in the security department, the PSM was suffering yearly loss of Rs12.8 million due to thefts.

Acknowledging that the thefts had been controlled she expressed her dismay that the PSM management had failed to take the culprits to task.

Later talking to the media, she said that everybody in the PSM was involved in thefts and an inquiry must have been initiated.

“When Dr Saifuddin Juneju was the PSM’s chief executive, the committee was informed that one person was involved in the theft of copper worth Rs10bn and that official had been terminated from the job. The committee had directed that instead of terminating his services a case has to be lodged against such people, but he did nothing,” she recalled.

She added that the secretary of industries has been directed to record all the inventories to determine any such loss in future.

The committee also directed the Ministry of Industries and Production to present their plans for the future of PSM at the next meeting.

The PSM has been non-functional since June 2015, whereas the country imported iron and steel products worth around $1.89bn in 2022-23.

A senior official of the Ministry of Industries told the media that apart from the stocktaking of PSM, the ministry would initiate the process of hiring a CEO for the PSM, followed by its board meeting to determine the future course of action.

Meanwhile, the PSM issue will also be taken up at the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to assess the cost of production and seek a viable solution for its revival.

“This is essential to ascertain the outflow of foreign currency when the production starts at the PSM because many raw materials too are imported to be consumed by the steel mills,” the official added.

The committee also discussed the role and functions of the Sugar Advisory Board (SAB).

The meeting was attended by Senator Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee, Senator Fida Muhammad, and Senator Zeeshan Khanzada.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2023