Senate Standing Committee on Defence Production has strongly recommended the 2000 acre land to be acquired for the shipyard. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Senator Lieutenant General Abdul Qayyum (retd). The committee was told that the summary has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office as well as Planning Commission. Sur Bandar has been finalized as the site for the shipyard.
The committee meeting was given a detailed briefing about budget details, domestic commercial sales and exports of different bodies coming under the Ministry of Defence Production. Representatives from Pakistan Ordnance Factory, Heavy Industries Taxila, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra and NRTC gave briefings on the said matters.
Lieutenant General Omar Farooqi told the meeting that exports is not the prime focus of POF, but the performance in this sector has enhanced over the course of past few years. The POF had exports amounting to 50 million US Dollars on average since 2014. It was also told that exports have an inverse relationship with demand targets from armed forces because in case of more targets from forces, exports decline.
It was also told that POF's focus has been to procure as less material from foreign countries as possible. The minister for defence production said that the efforts undertaken by the POF can be made sustainable only after repeated requests from the ministry regarding budget proposals are adhered to. The minister sought support from the committee in this regard to write to the concerned quarters about enhancing the budget of departments under the ministry. The POF commercial sales in financial year 2016-17 were Rs 11.8 billion including sales to law enforcement agencies (LEAs), while net profit of subsidiaries alone was about Rs 1 billion, he said.
The committee chairman observed that that defence production industry is a money minting industry and many countries are using this industry to generate revenue and support the socio-economic sectors. Pakistan who did not have any ordnance factory in 1947 is now almost 90% self-sufficient in arms and ammunition and more research in this sector, marketing about the work and up gradation of machinery can do wonders for the country.
Air Commodore Shams from PAC Kamra told the committee that the complex was allocated a budget of 15 billion and it has worked on several contracts and projects involving JF 17 aircrafts, Mushshak aircrafts as well as many domestic commercial projects. The committee highly appreciated the achievements of PAC Kamra. Representative from HIT told the meeting that Heavy Industries Taxila consumed 100% budget allocated to the body. It was stated that work at HIT is done according to the budget allocated. MD Karachi Shipyard also gave briefing about the recent contracts signed with national and international customers. Karachi Shipyard officials also told the meeting that the institution under the control of Pakistan Navy is a self-sufficient body and is earning a lot of revenue. National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) officials told the meeting that sales amounting to 6151 million were carried out in the financial year 2016-17.
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