LAHORE, Dec 2: The committee for the revival of sick industries has restructured and revived 113 out of the 257 sick units, protecting the jobs of 36,000 people.

This was stated by Corporate and Industrial Restructuring Corporation chief executive officer and the committee chairman Tariq Hameed while chairing a meeting of the CIRC’s board of directors here on Sunday.

The meeting was presided over by Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and attended by Federal Privatization Minister Altaf Salim and State Bank Governor Dr Ishrat Husain.

Mr Tariq Hamid said the committee had so far evaluated 257 sick units. During the last seven months, 37 sick units were offered for auction. Out of them, 24 units had been auctioned for Rs290 million, providing a chance to their 2,500 to get direct employment.

He said out of the auctioned units some were being made operational.

Mr Shaukat Aziz said in future the owners of the sick units should be given the option of directly approaching the revival committee for sorting out their affairs with banks. This will allow the auction of the maximum number of sick units, he said.

He directed that 10 units should be offered for sale every month in future.

Dr Ishrat Husain said all banks had been asked to follow the decision of the committee for the quick and effective resolution of the non-performing loans.