ISLAMABAD, Nov 6: Federal Minister for Industries and Production Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo said on Thursday that the capacity of Pakistan Steel Mills would be raised to 3.3 million tons from the current 1.1 million tons over the next three years.

“This expansion may reach 10 million tons in the next few years to meet the rising demand of steel in the county,” the minister told a press conference. He said that the privatisation of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) had been put into cold storage.

“We will not allow the privatisation of the PSM. It is our national entity and it will remain in the public sector,” he said.

In reply to a question about dependence on foreign sources for raw materials, the minister said the government was considering various options to purchase raw materials from Balochistan and the NWFP. Annually, the PSM spent around Rs25 billion on imports of raw materials, he added.

He said money would be given to these provinces to start development programmes including opening of new schools and hospitals.

Mr Wattoo also announced formulation of a national industrial policy to attract foreign investment. He did not give details of the proposed policy. He said around $2 billion investment was expected in the petrochemical industries, adding that all formalities had already been finalised.

He admitted that the industrial sector had been facing severe pressure because of rising input cost and fallout of global financial meltdown.

Asked why the government was not taking action against a steady increase in the sugar price, the minister replied that government would import raw sugar to convert it into white. However, he did not mention that the government’s decision to allow massive exports of sugar was responsible for the shortage.Mr Wattoo said that during the past five months, the government had established 1,500 utility stores across the country. These new stores also provided employment to 3,500 people.

After negotiations with oil and ghee industries, the minister said, the consumer price of ghee/ oil had been brought down to Rs98 per kg from Rs140 recently.

He said quality and quantity display system had been introduced in these stores to address these issues, adding that the government would also establish these stores on the pattern of multinational stores chain. “We have already sought the help of LUMS in this regard.”

He said urea supply would improve in the next few weeks. He said that cement prices had increased because of export to neighbouring countries.