SWABI: Industrialists of Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate (GAIE) warn of a bleak future for the zone, saying that without government support and fresh investment, several units have already been shut down while others are struggling to survive due to multiple structural and operational challenges.

They said the major issues include a disadvantageous location, prolonged power outages, gas loadshedding, and high transportation costs for both raw materials and finished goods. They added that bringing raw materials from Karachi port and distributing finished products to different cities have significantly increased production costs, making operations increasingly unviable.

Fazal Rahim Jadoon, president of the Swabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who has made substantial investments in the GAIE, told Dawn on Friday that he would not hesitate to relocate his industry elsewhere in the country or abroad if a better opportunity arises, as safeguarding his investment and family’s future remains his top priority.

“My steel mill has remained closed for the last one and a half years,” he said, adding that industrialists in the estate face severe operational challenges.

Industrialists blame outages, gas shortages, high costs for downturn

Other entrepreneurs echoed similar concerns, saying they are increasingly worried about how to protect their investments in the prevailing conditions.

Industrialists recalled that the GAIE was established in 1988 by the then government of Benazir Bhutto after clashes between poppy cultivators and law enforcement agencies, in which eight farmers were killed while resisting the destruction of poppy crops. The project aimed to provide alternative livelihoods to poppy growers in the Gadoon Amazai mountainous region and discourage opium cultivation, which had been banned by the government.

However, industrialists said the purpose of the estate gradually deteriorated as the government failed to provide sustainable alternative income sources to former poppy cultivators.

Ghafoor Khan Jadoon, who was part of the jirga formed to engage with the federal government on livelihood alternatives for poppy growers, said the initiative ultimately failed. He added that incentives were later withdrawn following a campaign by Karachi- and Lahore-based industrialists, who labelled the GAIE a “Black Cobra”.

Former president of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Liaqat Ahmad Khan, who also operated a ghee unit in the estate, said the federal government’s earlier decision under SRO-517 to offer 100 per cent incentives helped attract investors nationwide. However, he said the abrupt withdrawal of these incentives in May 1990 by the first government of Nawaz Sharif proved equally damaging, as both decisions disrupted industrial stability in the estate.

Fazal Amin, former president of the Gadoon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that over the past 36 years, stakeholders had repeatedly approached federal and provincial ministers, including finance ministers, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governors, and other officials, but no concrete steps were taken to improve the estate.

When contacted, officials claimed that currently 165 industrial units are operating in the GAIE, of which around 80 function round the clock, while the rest operate intermittently. They said that over 90 units in the estate have been completely closed, with no immediate prospects of reopening. They also said that 47 units are currently under construction, and work on them is expected to be completed next year.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026