ISLAMABAD: The Petroleum Division has asked the government to release Rs6.6 billion through the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for laying a pipeline to supply LNG to Special Economic Zones (SEZs) planned under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Pakistan is going to enter the industrialisation phase of CPEC and the government wants China to relocate some of its industrial units to the SEZs. The government also wants to open the SEZs for investors of all countries, reported The Express Tribune.
The Petroleum Division has asked the government to allocate Rs495.27 million for Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and Rs6.14 billion for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), which will supply LNG to the factories in the SEZs, claimed the report.
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had decided earlier that the cost of providing utility services like gas and electricity for the SEZs would be met through the PSDP.
According to the report, the government has planned to set up nine SEZs under CPEC in an attempt to give a fresh impetus to industrialisation and ramp up exports from the country.
Sources quoted in the report claim there has been unprecedented progress in three SEZs including Rashakai in Nowshera (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa), Allama Iqbal Industrial City in Faisalabad (Punjab) and Dhabeji in Thatta (Sindh).
