The Punjab Industrial Estates Development and Management Company has approved the establishment of an industrial estate along the Rawalpindi Ring Road project instead of a previously proposed economic zone.
According to officials, the decision was taken after authorities concluded that tax exemptions and incentives required for an economic zone could not be offered under current IMF-related policy constraints.
The proposed industrial estate will move forward after formal approval through legislation by the Punjab Assembly, following which the land acquisition process is expected to begin.
Officials said land would be acquired and offered to industrial investors at affordable rates to encourage industrial development in the region.
The 38.6-kilometer-long Rawalpindi Ring Road project, extending from Banth Interchange on GT Road to Thalian Interchange on the motorway, is currently in its final stage and is expected to be completed by mid-June under a revised Rs. 51 billion PC-I.
Authorities said four major interchanges, including Banth, Chak Beli Khan, Adiala and Chakri, are nearing completion along with the main route.
However, work on the Thalian Interchange has been delayed, and officials plan to open the ring road for traffic without waiting for its completion. The National Highway Authority (NHA) will later complete the connecting route from Thalian to Sangjani.
Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Usman Shaukat said the industrial estate was now considered a practical alternative to the previously proposed economic zone.
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Rawalpindi has an acute water shortage. Underground water is rapidly depleting. Approving an industrial estate in an area of water shortage is a joke on its own. Town planners should be fired for this type of planning.