KARACHI: Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) has received Rs960 million from the finance ministry to pay the two month (Jan-Feb 2015) salaries of its employees.
Earlier, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) recommended immediate release of four-month salaries for the PSM employees covering the January-April period amounting to around Rs2 billion. However, during a meeting held on April 23, the ECC approved release of salaries for two months only.
Meanwhile, the largest heavy machinery manufacturing company of Russia has expressed interest in helping the troubled steel mill.
During a meeting between a Russian delegation and Federal Minister of Industries and Production Ghulam Murtaza Khan Jatoi, the delegation representing the heavy machinery manufacturing company expressed interest in carrying out maintenance work at the mill along with upgrading its power plant to increase the generation capacity. This should improve the production capacity of the mill.
The minister endorsed the proposal and emphasised that the project would result in reduced cost of electricity production for the PSM and allow the mill to add power to the national grid in the long-run.
