The auctions held last month by the government for 23 state-owned properties have fetched Rs. 1.13 billion, officials said on Wednesday.
Initially, 26 properties were put on the list of auctions. The auctioned 23 properties including residential, commercial and agricultural lands across the country, owned by various ministries and division and organizations, the officials told a meeting of the inter-ministerial committee on assets management on privatization. Ministry of Privatisation was entrusted with the task of auctioning these properties.
Ministers told the meeting that the cabinet committee on privatization will decide on whether the remaining three properties will be delisted from the active privatization list, after considering the various issues and complexities involved, hindering the execution of the task.
Minister for Privatisation Mohammed Mian Soomro said this has been a good start, adding, “We are focused on major privatisation goals with maximum output in efficiency with the induction of experts and capital”.
The government planned to divest stakes in loss-making public sector enterprises, including re-gasified liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Pakistan Railways (PR).
However, the Covid-19 lockdown imposed for five months in March slowed down the privatisation process. The meeting was held to review the auction of government properties across the country.
The committee also agreed to the proposal of bidders’ price final approval from the cabinet committee on privatisation before handing over the properties to the successful candidates.
