The 16th meeting of the Standing Committee on Industries and the Production of the National Assembly was held under the chairmanship of the MNA Sajid Hussain Turi.
The Director-General, Privatization Commission, briefed the committee about the salient features of the privatization of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and its retrenchment plan, including remuneration package policy.
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He informed the committee about the procedure adopted by the Privatization Commission for the evaluation of the assets of PSM, but did not clarify the factor that had led to losses.
The Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Industries and Production stated that pension payments of the retired employees of PSM had already been paid by the department.
The Director-General, Privatization Commission, told the committee that the Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCOP), had met on 17 June 2019 and directed the Privatization Commission (PC)Â to immediately advertise the recruitment of a Transaction Advisor for the Pakistan Steel Mills Committee (PSMC) to bring in a party for the revival of the PSM without the transfer of full ownership.
The Board of the Privatization Commission (PC) approved the initiation of the process of the hiring of a Financial Adviser (FA) for the PSMC.
The members of the committee expressed grave concerns about the delay in the process of the hiring of the Financial Adviser and the hurdles in the privatization of the PSMC between 2006 and 2021. The Director-General, Privatization Commission, added that it had been decided to allocate 1228 acres of land on a lease basis to the new subsidiary, but the balance land details and the settlement of payable liabilities remained unclarified.
The Chairman of the Committee expressed his concern for the valuation of this land, and opined that fresh land valuation should be made by the government according to the market price.
The committee also discussed that the Government of Sindh may also be taken on board before the finalization of the bid process in this respect to avoid any more delays in the revival of PSM. After a detailed discussion, the committee decided that all the stakeholders of the PMC will be invited to its next meeting.
It also directed the Secretary of the Ministry of Industries and Production to address the problems of the security of PSM, after which the Secretary immediately informed the Chief Security Officers of PSM to send letters to the Home Secretary, the Government of Sindh, and the Inspector-General of the Police in Sindh.
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A parliamentary panel expressed serious concerns on Monday about the extra money charged by dealers and the issues that the general public undergoes due to the delays in deliveries by the Morris & Garage (MG) company.
The committee expressed its concerns about the extra money charged by the dealers and the issues that the general public is undergoing due to the delays in the deliveries by MG.
It also unanimously decided that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) may be invited to the next meeting of the committee. The committee deferred the remaining agenda due to the paucity of time.
The General Manager, Engineering Development Board (EDB), briefed the committee about the new entries in the automobile sector and their performance.
The meeting was attended by the MNAs Nasir Khan Musa Zai, Muhammad Abdul Ghafar Watto, Syed Mobeen Ahmed, Muhammad Akram, Sahibzada Sibgatullah, Shandana Gulzar Khan, Sajida Begum, Aliya Hamza Malik, Usama Qadri, Ali Gohar Khan, Riaz ul Haq, Syed Mustafa Mahmud, and Mahar Irshad Ahmad Khan, besides the senior officers from the Ministry of Industries & Production, the Ministry of Law & Justice, Privatization Commission, and PSM.
