ISLAMABAD, April 12: Motor dealers on Monday alleged that car assemblers were currently holding over Rs50 billion through booking of cars but would not be able to clear their current orders for over 18 months.

They told a cabinet committee on car prices constituted by the prime minister that real indiginization of auto parts was not more than three per cent, but the Engineering Development Board under the influence of car assemblers was showing it at 58 per cent.

The committee, led by Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and represented by ministers for industries, commerce, information and interior, however, asked all the stakeholders to submit facts and figures latest by Friday that would be investigated through a sample survey independently before submitting a report to the prime minister.

The motors dealers also alleged that most of the parts used in the cars being assembled locally were being imported by the assemblers and their vendors and quoted a recent haul by tax authorities that seized over Rs6 billion worth of imported crystal lights, a part that has no local plant.

Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz later confirmed at a press talk that such confiscations had taken place, but said these were one or two cases. The car manufacturers on the other hand refused to reduce their prices but promised to equalize the supply and demand at 135,000 cars per year by June next year that would eliminate the element of premium.

Mr Aziz quoted them as saying that nowhere in the world had the industry doubled its production in two years' time and before this there was a slump in their business.

He said the government would independently investigate into the matters of delivery time of vehicles, premium issue, demand and supply ratio before the committee finalized its recommendations for consideration of the prime minister.

He said it would take around three weeks time from now. Mr Aziz said the committee had informed all the stakeholders that the government had no desire to hurt anybody.