Murad forms ministerial panels to resolve issues of industrial areas

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday chaired a meeting of the Business Facilitation Coordination Committee (BFCC), constituted on the directives of Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to redress the grievances of industrialists, to discuss the issues and find their solutions with mutual consent.

The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, IGP Ghulam Nabi Memon, the Karachi commissioner along with provincial secretaries from local government, Labour and other departments.

Representatives from the business community included MNA Ikhtiar Baig, Arif Habib, Zubair Motiwala, and Chairman Pakistan Business Council Shabbir Deewan. Additionally, President FPCCI Atif Ikram Sheikh, President KCCI Javed Balwani, Chairman ABAD Hassan Bakhshi, President SITE Association of Trade & Industry Ahmed Azeem Alvi, President KATI Junaid Naqi, Chairman APTMA Anwar Azeem.

CM Murad Ali Shah welcomed the industrialists to the Chief Minister’s House and assured them that their issues would be prioritized. He stated that matters concerning his government would be addressed at the provincial level, while issues requiring federal intervention would be addressed collectively. He emphasized that this meeting aimed to listen to business concerns and gather suggestions to inform decision-making.

The CM announced the establishment of a special desk at the Commissioner’s Office to resolve issues related to water, drainage, and encroachments. Industrialists raised concerns about electricity fluctuations, water shortages, and gas supply problems, stating that industrial production could not increase without resolving these issues.

In response, the CM assured them that he was actively working to address power and gas concerns and mentioned that the Energy Department would engage with K-Electric to arrange special solutions for industrial areas.

Industrialists recommended reducing the 29 local levies, and the CM assured them that the CS would review the issue. He said, “The chief secretary and mayor of Karachi will hold a separate meeting with the leaders of the industrial bodies to find solutions.”

Business leaders expressed their gratitude to Chairman Bilawal Bhutto for his involvement in addressing industrial concerns. After listening to the business community leaders, the chief minister decided to form several important committees:

The Industrial Policy Committee led by provincial minister Jam Ikram will include industrialists to develop a provincial industrial policy aimed at attracting investments and facilitating existing industries.

The Energy Committee, chaired by the energy minister, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, will liaise with the federal government to resolve gas and electricity issues, including representation from industrial bodies.

The Security Committee, led by Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar, will include representatives from industrial associations and address security concerns in industrial areas. The Infrastructure Committee (IC), chaired by Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani, will include the Karachi mayor and industrialists to assess and improve the infrastructure in industrial areas.

Responding to complaints about traffic congestion and transport issues raised by industrialists, the CM established the Transport and Traffic Committee under Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon to resolve such matters.

PPP Mode Projects Committee: Shah invited industrialists to participate in government projects through public-private partnerships (PPP). The industrialists expressed their willingness to collaborate, leading the CM to form a committee directly under him (CM) to oversee projects in infrastructure, health, and education.

Housing Committee: Addressing issues related to the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) and its members, the CM constituted a committee led by Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani to evaluate and improve housing sector facilities.

Media Committee: Established at the request of industrialists, this committee aims to enhance Karachi’s perception to attract more investment.

The CM highlighted that he formed these committees under the provincial ministers to facilitate issue resolution at the departmental level, while he would personally handle complex and significant matters. Additionally, the Sindh Investment Department is working on establishing a One-Window Investment Facilitation System to streamline business processes and attract investments.

NFC award: Separately, the Sindh cabinet meeting was informed that currently the 7th NFC Award (year 2010) is under implementation.

The federal government transfers the share of provinces by the revenue distribution formula of components of the Divisible Pool, as prescribed in the Award. The Divisible Pool Comprises Income Tax, Capital Value Tax, Sales Tax (Excluding GST on Services), Federal Excise (Excluding ED on Natural Gas), Customs (Excluding Export Development Surcharge).

The CM said the indicators of the divisible pool distribution include population having 82 per cent weightage, poverty backwardness at 10.30 per cent, revenue collection and generation at five per cent, and inverse population density at 2.7 per cent.

Punjab has a share of 51.74 per cent in the divisible pool, followed by Sindh 24.55 per cent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 14.62 per cent, and Balochitsan 9.09 per cent. The cabinet was told that the provincial government had received Rs489.067 billion during 2021-22 (January to June 2022).

During the past three years - 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 - Sindh received a total of 3,002.43 billion against its share from the National Finance Commission (NFC). This amount was short by Rs77.16 billion.

Recently, Sindh was compensated for these arrears of Rs77.16 billion. Throughout this period, the Sindh government was given Rs1,325.35 billion against straight transfers; however, this was also short by Rs126.64 billion. The federal government has recently addressed this shortfall as well.

The cabinet accorded approval to the biannual NFC report (January to June 2022) for laying before the Sindh Assembly.

Paperless cabinet: In a bid to modernise governance and enhance efficiency, the Sindh government has launched a comprehensive digitisation drive for its cabinet proceedings. Following directives from CM Syed Murad Ali Shah, the Services, General Administration & Coordination Department (SGA&CD) has implemented a new Sindh Cabinet E-Portal, mirroring similar digitisation efforts undertaken by the Federal Government in 2021.

The initiative aims to create a paperless and wireless environment, equipping each cabinet member with an iPad and SIM-based internet connectivity. This replaces traditional LAN connections.