The shifting of coal handling from Karachi Port Trust to Port Qasim under the order of Supreme Court has greatly benefited the national economy.

It has been learnt that Port Qasim Authority (PQA) received US 19.4 million dollars equivalent to PKR 2,644 million in terms of royalty payments (on coal handling at PIBT) during FY 2018-19 whereas during the first half Financial Year (2019-2020) the contribution stands at $10 million equivalent to PRK 1,572 million.

"During FY 2018-19, we have successfully handled 8,553,410 tons cargo against 2,745,048 tons in 2017-18 through various vessels with positive contribution margins depicting year-on-year volume growth of 212%," said PIBT Chief Executive Sharique Azim Siddiqui.

He said that PIBT, in addition to the royalty payments, has contributed Rs 983 million to the national economy in 2018-19 in lieu of income tax, sales tax and other government levies.

"In the first six months of this financial year ended December 31, 2019, the quantity of coal handled at the terminal has increased by 11 percent on year-on-year basis from 3.97 to 4.41 million tons, increasing our contribution to the national exchequer by 130% on year-on-year basis from 315.3 to 726.15 million rupees," said Sharique, adding: "PIBT is focusing on strategies to bring more efficiency in cargo handling operations and to provide unparalleled services to our customers."

It's worth mentioning that approximately 35 percent of Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Limited's revenue goes to PQA in terms of royalty payments. In 2007, PQA invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from International and Pakistani firms/Consortia to establish Coal and Clinker/Cement Terminal at the designated site on 30 years BOT basis, without PQA/Government of Pakistan funding and throughput guarantee.

All in all, six firms/consortia showed interest in the project and submitted EOIs and two of them ultimately submitted proposals. NESPAK carried out detailed evaluation/comparison of the said proposals and the company was selected for being the most responsive to PQA guidelines. On the finalization of negotiations of the Implementation Agreement (I.A), PQA Board in February 2010 endorsed the I.A which was approved by the government of Pakistan, Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet, Ministry of Law, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Production and Development, Board of Investment, SEPA, the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Finance.

Hence, PIBT as the first state-of-the-art and fully mechanized bulk handling facility at Port Qasim for coal, clinker, and cement cargo with an investment of $300 million got fully operational in mid 2017.

In June 2018, the SC had refrained the handling of all the ships carrying imported coal to Pakistan at Karachi Port Trust considering the environmental challenges associated with handling of coal there and prevalence of unfavourable health conditions for the citizens of Karachi.

And the SC ordered to shift all the coal imports to PIBT, which is the first handling facility to comply with World Bank's standards of environment pollution control.