Sindh govt to hand over land for Marble City by May 2010

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

* After completion, the Marble City alone will cater to exports of over $500m by 2015

By Razi Syed

KARACHI: The Sindh government will provide 300 acre of land to Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) by the end of May 2010 for the development of Marble City on Northern Bypass.

The Sindh Chief Minister, Qaim Ali Shah assuring All Pakistan Marble Mining Processing Industry and Exporters Association (APMMPIEA) said, “Efforts of PASDEC and marble industry are lauded for development and up gradation of this sector in the country”.

Chief Minister assured his full support in this regard, especially in setting up the Marble City in Karachi.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard was inked between Sindh Board of Investment and PASDEC in Karachi.

Chairman BMG APMMPIEA, Sanaullah Khan said a long awaited demand by the stakeholder has finally been fulfilled as Karachi marble industries cater around 90 percent of the total export of marble products.

He said PASDEC would undertake development work on the site and the project would complete by the mid 2012. The genuine stakeholders of the sector will be given industrial plots through balloting probably by the end of 2012, after which the stakeholder will complete construction and installation of machinery and equipment by the end of 2012. Khan said, “Cutting of around 15-20 million feet of marble and stone of Balochistan mining sector on monthly basis will start”.

He said the country would fetch over $500 million by exporting finished and semi finished goods by 2015 in addition to the existing export of around $37 million annually. He said, around 15 percent growth is expected annually, while the exports during July-March 2010 stood at $25 million as compared to same period during 2008-09, which stood at $22.2 million.

The sector has surpassed the export target set by the government to $18 million for the same period, he maintained. The growth and export purely depend on the back of construction boom in Middle East and increase in Indian demand.

Export to Dubai and other Middle East countries including Saudi Arab increases as compared to export to the US and European nations during this period, he added. He said mining and quarry sector contributes nearly 0.6 percent to Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) with an estimated value addition of more than Rs 16.5 billion.

Chairman/CEO PASDEC, Ihsan Ullah Khan said Sindh has a great potential of investment in marble and granite sector and the government of Pakistan and stakeholders of marble and granite sector were supporting the PASDEC to mechanise and develop the sector on modern lines.