Rashakai SEZ: Committee allocates land to Chinese steel conglomerate

In a major move towards the industrialization of KP province, the first Zone Enterprise from China has been admitted to Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

The SEZ Committee approved the first provisional allotment to a foreign firm as Zone Enterprise in Rashakai Special Economic Zone Peshawar, which is a CPEC Project.

In a meeting, the SEZ Committee of Rashakai SEZ allocated 40 acres of land to Century Steel (Pvt) Ltd. It is owned by M/S Fuzhou Julitaihe International Company; a Chinese conglomerate engaged in manufacturing and sale of iron & steel products internationally.

The Fuzhou Julitaihe International Company owns steel mills in Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Ethiopia with a net capacity of 3000 million tons of iron & steel products. Century Steel plans to invest USD 50 million and will produce 0.25mn tons of steel products in Rashakai SEZ.

As per details, the project will consume 45 MW electricity and employ 1000 manpower directly and indirectly. Resources from China have been mobilized and Chinese engineers and personnel are setting up a site office to execute the project without delay.

It was learned that many industries will be starting construction shortly at the Zone. Rashakai SEZ comes under the CPEC umbrella and is the first Industrial Cooperation Project between China and Pakistan. The 1000 acre SEZ will create 200,000 direct and indirect jobs and attract Rs 347 billion of investment.

10 MW of electricity at the Zone has been arranged through an 11 kV feeder, whereas, work is in progress on the 160 MW, 132 kV grid station.

Due to its excellent location on Motorway and proximity to Torkham Border and Central Asia, the Zone is expected to be the game-changer for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan.

Rashakai SEZ located near M-1 Nowshera, will be developed in three phases. The total area designated for Industrial use is 702 acres and as per Federal SEZA Regulations, of which 159 acres will be developed in Phase I, 279 acres in phase II & 264 acres in Phase III.

The industrial clusters/sectors are proposed/planned in the Rashakai SEZ include: garment and textile products, home building materials, general merchandise, electronics, and electrical appliances, and automobile and mechanical equipment