ISLAMABAD: Some foreign investors have shown keen interest in government's plan of retrenching the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and its privatisation.
"Interested firms from China, Russia, Korea and Turkey are negotiating with the government of Pakistan in a bid to retrench Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and privatize it," the Privatisation Division stated.
Quoting Director-General Privatization Commission of Pakistan Iftikhar Naqvi, it was said that to reduce the cost of the PSM for bidders, the Privatisation Division have branched 20,000 acres land of steel mills, where only 1,268 acres would be handed over to the successful bidder, while the rest of the property would be given to holding companies.
The DG Privatization Commission, Iftikhar Naqvi, said that the auction of 41 kanals property at Hall Road Lahore, where the Ministry of Industry set the reserve price Rs5.2 billion, would be held soon.
He said that we are committed to strengthening our economy according to the vision of the prime minister in the best interest of Pakistan, and its people, the privatisation of governmental properties is a step towards prosperity.
The DG said that after an interval of seven years, the privatization commission has started the auction process, and up till now, we have successfully auctioned 23 properties of the federal government in Sindh, the Punjab, the KP and capital Islamabad, and deposited 1.04 billion rupees to the national exchequers.
Earlier, five members of Privatization Committee successfully auctioned Wapda guest house with 6.8 kanals area located at Lalazar Battakundi District, Mansehra, at a local hotel of Abbottabad, with the cost of 72 million rupees to a Peshawar-based firm.
In an open and transparent bidding process of Wapda guest house, representatives of six companies participated.
The auction started with the opening amount of 21.7 million rupees, and finalised with 72 million rupees.
Successful bidder MD Swat Tourism Company Hashim Swati said they would establish a world-class hotel at the scenic place of Battakundi, which would provide job opportunism to dozens of people, and would also be a unique place for tourists.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020