Provincial Minister for Industries & Trade Mian Aslam Iqbal has said that the Punjab government has lifted ban on cement industry after a gap of 12 years so that this sector could also flourish and contribute to the national economy.

The minister revealed this while presiding over a meeting that was held to review investment in the cement industry and installation of new cement plants in the province. He regretted that months' were spent in getting no objection certificate (NoC) for setting up new industries. He directed the department concerned to come up fully prepared in the next meeting.

The special handling cell has been set up in industries department to deal with the installation of cement plants. He said the focal persons of the departments concerned will be included in the cell and issuance of NoC would be made easy so as to facilitate the investors.

He directed the departments concerned to work in an organized manner and further directed that industries department should develop an application for submitting applications of setting up cement plants. The concerned departments would be responsible for completing their work within the timeline, he added.

The minister stressed that latest technology should be utilized for setting up cement plants that use minimum water. Facilitating the investors is the responsibility of the departments and any impediment in this regard will not be tolerated, warned the minister.