ISLAMABAD, July 5: Minister for Privatisation and Investment Zahid Hamid has said that if the ministry of industries and production recommended revamping of Pakistan Steel Mills, the Privatisation Commission would consider it.

“Let the ministry of industries and production first come up with its recommendations, only then we will look into the issue of revamping,” the minister said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, he said, the government was awaiting the Supreme Court’s detailed judgment to plan its future strategy about the mills’ disinvestment.

“ I can only tell you that no decision has so far been taken by the government to file a review petition in the apex court about the mills’ privatisation,” Mr Hamid said.

According to the decision taken by the Council of Common Interest (CCI) on May 29, 1997, there was no hurdle in the privatisation of the steel mills, he added.

When contacted Chairman PSM Lt-Gen (retd) Abdul Qayyum said the steel mills needed to be revamped urgently to avoid a major breakdown. “I have a zero-option as far as the revamping is concerned. Therefore, we have to go for this critical revamping,” he emphasised.

He said that uncertainty about the state of the mills could prove to be ‘destructive’ and that some short-term plan would have to be made to revamp the organisation before it was too late.

Gen Qayyum warned that the mills could come to a grinding halt if urgent measures were not taken to repair some of its important plants and machinery.

In this regard, he referred to coke oven and steel making plants, convertor shell, pallets and hot strip mills which needed immediate revamping.

The chairman of the mills said that oxygen plant, blast furnace plant and boiler No2 had already been revamped as was approved by the restructuring committee also comprising former Governor State Bank Dr Ishrat Hussain and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who was then the finance minister.

He said that the mills’ Rs10 billion equity could be utilised for its revamping. “Whatever we spend on its revamping, we could recover it from the future buyer of the mills”, he assured.

Gen Qayyum also said that contract for both revamping and expanding the mills’ capacity from 1.1 million tons to 1.5 million tons could be awarded to a single company or an individual.

A memorandum of understanding had been signed with Russia to expand the mills during President Musharraf’s visit to Moscow in 2003. “I can also remind you that Central Development Working Party of the Planning Commission had already approved the restructuring and revamping of the steel mills,” Gen Qayyum said.