GUJRAT: The delay in the establishment of phase two of the industrial estate in Gujrat has forced hundreds of industries, including those manufacturing electric fans, pottery, furniture among other products, to set up their units in residential areas.
The local business fraternity has been striving to get a second industrial estate established in the city for the past three decades, as its first phase was established some 58 years ago in 1968.
Gujrat, known for its industries and a part of the golden industrial triangle of Pakistan, had been deprived of an industrial area by the authorities, said former Gujrat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GtCCI) president Chaudhary Waheed Tanda, while talking to Dawn.
The phase-II was approved by the Punjab government in 2021 by the then chief minister Usman Buzdar and Rs1.3 billion were allocated on the recommendations of the then federal minister Chaudhary Moonis Elahi.
For land acquisition, Rs400 million were released in 2022 and a 6km-long dual carriageway along with a new industrial area police station was also established.
The land of three villages – Saroki, Chak Qazian and Sheikh Qureshian – was selected and acquired by the land revenue department.Later, the caretaker Punjab government had shelved the whole project in 2023 and possession of the acquired land was returned to the previous owners on the recommendation of the then federal minister Chaudhary Salik Hussain.
Since then, at least four different sites had been proposed by the land revenue department for the project.
However, the formal process to acquire the land could not begin due to different technical and political reasons.
In mid 2024, Punjab Commerce and Industry Minister Chaudhary Shafay Hussain had announced plans to establish the phase-II of the industrial estate on non-agricultural land, but no progress had been made in this regard so far.
On the other hand, the local administration had been facing challenges to select the new site for the project.
Official sources claim that two proposed sites near Mehsam and Saidhari villages could not be selected due to technical reasons after groundwater in the area was found to be very high.
They claimed that the Bhimber Nullah might have been the cause of the higher groundwater in the area.
Moreover, farmers of the selected villages also opposed the move and staged protests at the district administration complex recently.
The GtCCI leadership have expressed grave concern at the delay and urged authorities to take steps in this regard.
Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2026
