PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Monday approved proposals for recommending two important projects to the federal Board of Investment (BoI) for the status of Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
The two projects were Daraban Economic Zone and Fatima Cement Limited in D.I. Khan district. After getting approval from the BoI, these industrial setups will be granted the status of SEZs. The approval is aimed to boost industrial activities in the province on a sustainable basis.
The proposals were approved in the 8th Board meeting of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Special Economic Zone Authority (KP-SEZA) held here with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan in the chair.
Special Assistant to CM for Industries Abdul Karim, Additional Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Principal Secretary to CM Amjad Ali Khan, administrative secretaries, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) KP-SEZA, KP-EZDMC and other members of the board attended the meeting.
After detailed deliberations, the board, under the relevant provisions of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act 2012, approved the proposals of the aforesaid projects to be recommended for the status of SEZ.
According to details, the multi-purpose Daraban Special Economic Zone, will initially be set up on 1,000 acres of land with a capacity to be expanded to 3,000 acres of land later on. Daraban Special Economic Zone will be established with an estimated cost of Rs 7.8 billion which would create 40,000 direct and 120,000 indirect employment opportunities.
The Special Economic Zone will have mineral and food based industries. The meeting also approved the recommendation of Fatima Cement Limited to be declared as Sole Enterprise Special Economic Zone which would be the first private sector SEZ of the province.
The Fatima Cement Limited will be setup with an estimated cost of Rs 51.9 billion having the capacity to generate about 500 direct and about 4,000 indirect employment opportunities, the details revealed.
The meeting reviewed in detail the implementation status of the decisions taken in the last meeting of the board. The forum was informed that feasibility study had been completed for the establishment of Centre of Excellence in Mohmand Marble City, and submitted to the BoI for further submission to the Joint Working Group for inclusion in the CPEC portfolio. It also said that progress was being made on the acquisition of additional 140 acre of land for Mohmand Marble City.
It was informed that in the first phase, 10 MW electricity had been provided to Rashakai Special Economic Zone. The work on the supply of 160 MW electricity under the second phase would be completed by the end of June current year, and work on the provision of 50 MW more electricity under the third phase would be completed in December current year. The infrastructure work for the provision of 30 MMCFD gas to the Special Economic Zone had been completed.
Similarly, work on the provision of 10 MW electricity to Hattar Special Economic Zone had been completed under the first phase. The work on the provision of 40 MW electricity would be completed by the end of month. The work on the supply of 110 MW more electricity would be completed in December next year, whereas work on the supply of 24 MMCFD gas to the Special Economic Zone was also in progress.
The chief minister termed the development of Industries on sustainable grounds in the province as one of the top priority areas of his government, and said that the provincial government was taking result-oriented steps under a well-planned strategy to boost industrial activities with the aim to provide maximum employment opportunities for the people of the province.
He remarked that there existed a conducive environment for private sector investment in the province and the provincial government was extending all possible facilitation to the private sector investors under one roof.
Mahmood said that establishment of Daraban Special Economic Zone would be a game changer for the southern region and would usher in a new era of sustainable development in the region.
Hailing the investment from Fatima Group in the province, the chief minister said that the investment would create ample opportunities of employment for the local population; and urged upon other private sector investors to come forward and invest in the province to their own benefit as well to that of the people of the province.