PESHAWAR, Jan 4: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has begun work on a plan to establish an industrial estate at Malakand and supply it inexpensive electricity from the public sector Malakand-III hydel power generation unit.

According to provincial industries secretary Fazal-i-Karim, the proposed industrial estate will be built at Dargai in Malakand division, a tax-free zone.

“We expect the Malakand industrial estate to be a big success as it entails huge incentives for entrepreneurs and six parties have already shown interest in setting up their industrial units there,” Mr Karim told a news conference here on Friday.The news conference was organised to highlight the provincial government’s performance and achievements in the industrial and mines sectors.

Flanked by provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar, the industries secretary said the provincial government had already released funds for acquiring land to set up the industrial estate.

He said the government attached great significance to the project as it was expected to attract potential investors from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other provinces alike.

The secretary said the industrial estate would be situated at a place where the income tax law did not extend and hence, it would be a big attraction for industrialists.

He added that the industrial would be provided with uninterrupted electricity 24 hours every day from the nearby provincial public sector Malakand-III hydel power unit at subsidised rates, making it attractive for the private sector.

Speaking on the occasion, the information minister said the provincial government should be credited for its efforts to keep the industrial wheel moving in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa amidst militancy and law and order situation.

“The situation was so precarious that even the operational industrial units were faced with risks of closure because of militancy, but the provincial government took it as a challenge and did its best to keep protect the manufacturing sector from experiencing a complete halt during the past four and a half years,” he said.

He did not agree with a questioner when asked that the provincial government failed to give an industrial policy to the province and the number of sick industrial units had increased since the sitting provincial government took over in 2008.

“We cannot see the industrial sector in isolation as it is a fact that industrial activities have suffered because of threats and risks associated with the spread of militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” said Mr Iftikhar.

Provincial mines and minerals minister Mehmood Zeb, who was also present on the occasion, said it would be wrong to assume that industrial activities in the province had come to a halt, adding that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s cement factories were not only meeting local demand for the cement, rather, a substantial amount of cement was being exported to Afghanistan as well.

He said more than 4000 marble units, he added, were operational in the province, meeting local demand for marble by the construction sector and providing jobs to thousands of people in several of the densely populated districts of the province.

The industries secretary said the government was also working on a plan to expand Hattar Industrial Estate, which was the most successful among the industrial estates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said apart from acquiring 424 acres for the extension of Hattar industrial estate, the government had allocated a substantial amount of money for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of facilities in the existing industrial estate.

Besides, the minister said the government was also working on the establishment of a special economic zone cum reconstruction opportunity zone at Nowshera, near Peshawar, for which 1000 acres would be acquired. “The project will facilitate the establishment of some 700 industrial units where from 14,000 to 17,500 people will get jobs,” he said.