The federal government has
decided to permanently shut down the state-owned Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM)
after failure to privatize it.
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In a statement, the Secretary Industries & Production said that the Sindh
government is interested in setting up its own Steel Mill and the government
has offered around 700 acres of land for this purpose.
PSM’s Chief Financial Officer said that the financial burden of
the Mill’s employees is Rs. 3.1 billion annually. He highlighted that in the
last ten years, an amount of Rs. 32 billion has been paid in terms of salaries
to the employees. Moreover, gas worth Rs. 7 billion has been used in the last
decade, he added.
He pointed out that thousands of political appointments in PSM
alongside the decision to regularize temporary employees have resulted in PSM’s
bankruptcy.
The government also intends to lease 4000 acres of land of PSM
to set up a Special Economic Zone.