THE Punjab Industrial Estates Development and Management Company has acquired land for developing four modern industrial estates offering 'state-of-the-art' infrastructure in as many cities of the province.

The work on these estates being developed in Rahim Yar Khan, Bhalwal, Vehari and Gujrat will commence in the next three to four months, PIEDMC chairman S.M. Tanvir told Dawn last week. “The objective of developing these industrial estates is to provide the intending investors with modern infrastructural facilities for setting up factories and helping kick-start economic activities and growth in the province,” he said.

The company has already signed MoUs with prospective investors interested in setting up industrial units in these areas once the estates are completed.

“The signing of MoUs is important because it helps us assess the need for industrial estates in a particular area,” Mr Tanvir said.

He said the estates will help to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and bring down the poverty levels in the province. “We intend to carry out all these projects with funds generated by the PIEDMC from the sale of plots in the first such modern industrial estate developed at Sundar near Lahore.

We will not take any funds from the provincial government for this purpose and leverage our own resources for the new estates,” Mr Tanvir said, pledging to develop one modern industrial estate in all the districts of the province.

“It is crucial to create modern industrial infrastructure in all the districts to tap the economic potential of that particular area. The citrus growers of Sargodha will not come to Lahore to set up their plants here. They need infrastructural facilities in their own area,” he underlined.

Mr Tanvir, who is credited to have turned around the PIEDMC as a rare successful model in the public-private partnership mode in last one year, claims that the development of the industrial infrastructure is necessary for attracting domestic entrepreneurs and foreign direct investment (FDI) in manufacturing sector in the province for economic growth.

Several multinational companies have plans to set up their manufacturing facilities at the Sundar Industrial Estate (SIE) near Lahore.

He pointed out that the present PIEDMC management has successfully wooed 150 domestic and foreign companies to set up factories at the SIE, the first project completed by the holding company established under the previous government in 2003.

He said investors prefer to go to places where all facilities they need to start their business are available under one roof. Additionally, several investors from China, Turkey, Italy, Switzerland and Thailand have shown keen interest in acquiring land at the SIE for establishing their units, he said.

He said those who had purchased plots at the SIE were reluctant to construct their factories because of economic downturn in the country, higher interest rates and energy crunch before the management under him took over the control of the PIEDMC.

“Some were waiting for the land prices to rebound to make profit by selling their plots. First, we revamped the PIEDMC by empowering its board of directors, appointing a new chief executive officer and rightsizing the staff to make it a vibrant entity. Later, we adopted a carrot and stick policy to force the plot holders to either return their plots to the PIEDMC or start setting up their factories.

As a result of our policy as many as 108 factories at the SIE have already begun production,” Mr Tanvir, a leading textile businessman, said.

Moreover, the new management has also successfully generated a substantial amount of cash for undertaking new projects, he said.

He said the PIEDMC is planning to provide solution to the problem of power shortages to the industries to be set up at the estates managed by the PIEDMC. “Initially we are considering to set up at least two coal-based power plants having capacity of 50 megawatts each at Sundar and Bhalwal for ensuring uninterrupted and cheaper supply of electricity,” he said.

The recent Council of Common Interest (CCI) decision allowing the provinces to set up power projects has facilitated the PIEDMC plans to undertake these projects.

He said the company is also working to provide missing facilities to the businessmen having their units at the Multan Industrial Estate (MIE) by restarting the stalled work there. He said the PIEDMC will generate a substantial amount of money from the sale of 258 plots at the MIE. “This money will also be leveraged for the development of new estates in the rest of the province.”

In addition to the industrial estates, the Punjab government plans to develop a new industrial estate along the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway.

It has allocated Rs2.5 billion for the purpose of acquiring 10,000 acres of land for the proposed industrial estates where Chinese investors have expressed their interest to set up manufacturing facilities. The project is also likely to be managed by the PIEDMC.