The Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production has raised alarm over the Sindh government’s reported allotment of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) land to nearby villages, urging that the issue be taken up at the Council of Common Interests (CCI). The committee expressed concern that the land in question was clearly within PSM’s legal entitlement and warned against what it described as arbitrary handovers. According to a report by Dawn.
Led by Senator Aon Abbas and including members Syed Masroor Ahsan, Khalida Ateeb, and Husna Bano, the committee visited the PSM premises to assess its operational and financial challenges. During the visit, the senators were briefed in detail by PSM Chairman Asad Islam Mahni and his management team. They learned that the state-owned enterprise is currently grappling with massive debt, including a cumulative loss of Rs600 billion by 2024, and pays Rs20 billion annually in interest. Of the Rs89 billion owed to the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), most has been used to cover salaries and operating expenses for PSM’s remaining workforce of 934 employees.
Committee members were told that the federal government is actively considering two parallel options for the future of the mills: a possible revival through Russian firm Industrial Engineering LLC using Arch and Blast Furnace technologies, or full-scale liquidation of the entity following a valuation by an external firm. Members also recommended expediting the disposal of outdated and non-functional moveable assets while urging authorities to quickly resolve the mill’s long-standing uncertainty.
The senators toured several PSM plants and were visibly disturbed by reports of repeated theft incidents on the premises. They instructed the management to assess the financial losses caused by these thefts and improve security protocols.
Separately, the committee met with employee union representatives, who voiced concerns about delayed benefits and difficulties faced by both retrenched and current workers. In response, the senators announced the formation of a subcommittee to engage with both the union and PSM leadership to seek practical solutions. Despite the overall grim picture, the committee commended current management efforts to curtail operational expenditure and maintain basic functionality under tough conditions.
