KARACHI: Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, during his visit to Pakistan Steel Mills, has assured the management to raise the issue of funds paucity before the prime minister ahead of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet meeting.
Sources said that the ministry of industries and production has suggested imposition of 15 per cent regulatory duty on import of hot rolled coils (HRCs), which is leading product of the PSM and have huge pile of 10 to 12 tonnes of HRCs in its store. However, the state-owned mills remained unable to sell hot rolled coils due to their significant import.
It is pertinent to mention that PSM has asked for another Rs13 billion for paying salaries, which have been due since November 2014, and for a major repair work of several steel plants. The government has already disbursed a total of Rs18.5 billion to the mills from May 2014 to January 2015 for restructuring the mills ahead of its planned privatisation. The mills, however, failed to deliver the desired results from the package.
