Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate (SITE), Karachi, is the oldest industrial area and was once a citadel of Pakistan’s industrial growth, where all industrial sectors (except sugar) were based and from which Pakistan’s Treasury received around 35 per cent of its total revenue. It had no encroachments, no graffiti, no roadside stalls or booths, and near zero crime or corruption. Those were the halcyon days for factory owners, workers, and guests.

Today, SITE is a wasteland where there is no sanity, no authority, and apathy everywhere. This has reduced the importance of SITE and downgraded it into a mediocre estate. At the same time, the significance of factories established on large acreage diminished substantially, primarily because textile mills have shut their doors or shifted to Punjab, resulting in the end of their dominance as the hub of textile spinning.

The enterprising real estate investors entered the picture and bought these closed-down plants, demolished the buildings, subdivided them into a number of plots, and minted huge profits. The smaller lots provided impetus to small and medium enterprises to set up base in SITE.

The founder of the nation laid the foundation stone for Valika Textile Mills, the first factory in Karachi after independence, in SITE Karachi on 26 September 1947. Decades later, the huge factory closed down, and the investor bifurcated and sold the plots. The same thing happened to Jubilee Spinning Mills and Bawany Violin Textile Mills, just to name these three among the “22 families” by Dr Mahbub ul Haq in days of yore.

Harsh economic realities has changed the structure of the oldest industration area of Pakistan

Factories of other larger business groups and multinationals such as Mughal Tobacco, Phillips Electric, Siemens, a few multinational pharmaceuticals and well-known textile mills such as Habib Textiles, Zaibtun Textiles, Ahmed Abdul Gani Textiles, Star Textiles, H M Silk, Karim Silk, and Noor Silk, etc are no more and have become home to SMEs. A multinational paint industry has now become a school.

The sudden increase in garment and knitwear exports last year prompted exporters to buy land and erect buildings with three to five floors. There was a substantial increase in the number of female workers, kiosks, cafes, and hawkers, and in the number of vehicles plying the roads (that were and are in a pathetic condition), the number of water bowsers, and the number of crimes.

Despite all these, SITE was brimming with activity, foreigners were willing to visit and work, and traffic was abundant. Alas, when the economy took a dive, a large number of industrialists swallowed a bitter pill, sold their industries, and diverted financial resources towards real estate, the stock exchange, or safe havens in foreign lands.

Some industrialists decided to sell lock, stock, and barrel to investors, while others kept the property in their names and divided their plants into small units, letting them out on rent. Others converted their plants into warehouses, taking advantage of the location as well as formidable demand for storage. The current value of land is between Rs400-450 million per acre, and ironically there is still demand for land.

Meanwhile, SMEs can rent the space for Rs35-45 per square yard per month depending on location, security, and availability of power, gas and water. The erstwhile industrialist has to generally worry about receiving rent on time while focusing on other pursuits. The passion for industry has vanished overnight. Gradually, SITE is becoming a smorgasbord of small and micro industries. Naturally, this has increased pressure on the roads and infrastructure and increased the number of roadside eateries, hawkers, petrol/CNG stations, paan/cigarette mini-stalls, and repair shops.

It is now common for investors, real estate agents, and SMEs to touch base with industrialists to inquire whether they would like to convert their factories into smaller units. Brokers assure industrialists that they will find tenants for a fee and even guarantee that, if any tenant leaves, there will be immediate replacements within days.

This trend will escalate in the months to come, and soon the grandeur, influence, and significance of SITE will wither away. The positive points, of course, are employment, industrialisation, and opportunities for SMEs to establish units at SITE.

The worrying factor for those industrialists who prefer to continue their production and presence in SITE is if, and it is a big if, the authorities succumb to the influence of builders and developers and allow construction of residential buildings on industrial properties. Although the value of land will increase manifold, the presence of residents and shops will further compound pressure on infrastructure and traffic and pose a danger to children and women.

In his address at the foundation-laying ceremony of Valika Textiles, Jinnah noted that while Pakistan had an agriculture-led economy, industrialisation was essential to reduce dependence on imports and to utilise domestic raw materials for the prosperity of the nation and its citizens. He hoped that this project would serve as a pioneer for future industrial development. Absolutely. An industrial estate should not become a residential estate.

The writer is a former chairman of the SITE Association of Industry

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, August 24th, 2026