Steel apathy

The apathetic attitude of the government towards the affairs of the ailing Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) at Karachi is a reflection of its poor planning and misplaced priorities. It was expected that the government would take immediate and concrete steps for the revival of the largest industrial complex which ceased operations abruptly in June 2015 under controversial circumstances. Unfortunately, even after more than ten months there is no visible headway by the government in this direction. It is recalled that Asad Umar had promised in July 2017, as chairman of the Standing Committee on Industries and Production, to make functional the strategic steel-making facilities at the earliest. Nonetheless, it was only in November 2018 that the government formally decided not to divest the PSM, having approved the creation of Sarmaya-e-Pakistan Limited, the holding company that was to decide how to revive sick state-owned enterprises (SOEs) including the PSM. Sadly, there has been no firm decision and every now and then there is a different story heard about the future of Pakistan's largest steel mill.The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet had approved on April 8 this year a report on revival of the PSM, and Abdul Razak Dawood, PM’s Advisor for Commerce, Textiles, Industries & Production and Investment had announced the government's decision to revive the integrated steel mills and to subsequently privatise it under the public-private partnership mode. Accordingly, the Ministry of Industries and Production submitted on April 16 a proposal for the appointment of a Transaction Advisory Consortium for the revival and restructuring of the SOE. In a recent development however, the ECC on May 3 has revoked its earlier decision, and decided to place the PSM on the privatization list. Historically, many exercises under successive governments to divest the PSM have failed in the past as private investors were interested only in the large valuable land of the mills. The uncertainty about revival of the PSM's operations is simply criminal negligence, seen in the backdrop of China’s announcement in December 2016 to set up a large steel mill in Gwadar as part of the CPEC program. Steel demand in Pakistan is projected to increase to about 20 million tons by 2025. The iron and steel industry holds the key to the sustained growth of national economy. Is the government not aware of the facts?Hussain SiddiquiIslamabad

from The News International - Newspost http://bit.ly/30ekfys