Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
A legislative body of upper house of parliament on Tuesday was informed that process of granting industry status to mining sector was in progress, which if approved the sector would flourish tremendously.
This was informed by Secretary Industries and Production Jawwad Rafiq Malik in the senate standing committee on industry and production, which held today in parliament house while Senator Faisal Sabzwari was on chair.
He also said that mining sector is a provincial matter after the 18thAmendment. As far as the federation is concerned, it is looked after by the Ministry of Petroleum. “We have written a letter to the Ministry of Petroleum. As soon as the Ministry approves it, a notification will be issued to declare mining as an industry.
The chairman of the committee asked what are the benefits of declaring mining as a separate industry? Officials informed that the industry’s status makes it easier to get loans from banks and other tax matters, which will make further progress in this field possible. The meeting discussed in detail the status of declaring mining as a formal industry by the Government of Pakistan.
The Ministry and Pakistan Steel officials gave a detailed briefing to the committee on the question posed by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed in the Senate session regarding the audited accounts of Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (Pvt) Limited.
