Authorities told to speedily approve applications for cement plants

LAHORE:Provincial Secretary for Industries and Trade Zafar Iqbal on Thursday asked the Punjab Information and Technology Board (PITB) and other relevant departments to set a timeline for the speedy approval of the applications for the establishment of cement plants in Punjab as the fresh investment of billions of US dollars is delaying due to the departmental procedural delays.

Chairing a meeting regarding briefing on the establishment of cement plants in Punjab, he observed that it was a time of financial crunch and there is a dire need for bolstering investment in Punjab.

He asked the PITB and other relevant departments for setting a timeline for the speedy approval of the applications and to take the Industries Department in the loop regarding each application for the new cement plant and its current status.

He said that each stakeholder department involved in the establishment of a cement plant should appoint a section officer in their respective department to take the cement plant companies/investors in the loop and also inform the cement plant companies about the status of their application.

Zafar Iqbal mentioned that if a section officer himself/herself calls the cement plant companies interested to invest in Punjab, it will increase the confidence of the potential cement investors and would show how serious Punjab government is in welcoming new investments and cement plant industry. The Irrigation Department representative briefed the industries secretary about the observation in accordance with the application of the Dera Ghazi Khan Cement Plant.

The industries secretary asked the Industries Department officers concerned to inform the DGK Cement Plant and conduct a meeting with all the stakeholder departments, including environment protection, local government, mines and mineral and irrigation departments, to expedite the approval of the application.

The secretary all the departments concerned should do their best to achieve the target of establishing three cement plants in the next three months at least. PITB Additional Director General, Training, Saima Sheikh said that once a week video link meeting with all the stakeholder departments should be conducted during Covid-19 epidemic.