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‘Initiatives afoot to develop marble, granite sectors in Balochistan’

By Razi Syed

KARACHI: The government is committed to provide all possible help to rich in mineral and natural resources province of Balochistan, Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, said Friday.

During inauguration of Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC)'s two joint venture projects of quarrying at Dasht District Mastung, he said the government was committed to explore marble and granite sectors.

He said Ministry of Industries and Production has already taken initiative through PASDEC, which has established a model quarry at Khuzdar and two projects of quarry up gradation in Mastung. He hailed the role of PASDEC in marble sector's development and informed federal government has declared Gwadar Port as a tax free zone, which would take Balochistan towards socio-economic prosperity and development.

Talking to Daily Times, chairman PASDEC, Ihsanullah Khan, said PASDEC has preferred Balochistan to establish its major projects of quarrying and processing. The two current quarry up-gradation projects would play a vital role in the developmental efforts towards regional developments. He said Wattoo also declared that the government would establish a Marble City in Quetta and it would not only generate employment opportunities for local people but also earn huge foreign exchange through finished product export.

He said the government was considering setting up two industrial estates in marble and agriculture based sectors in Balochistan. Ihsanullah Khan further informed PASDEC would establish 38 percent of its marble and granite related projects in Balochistan.

Former chairman, All Pakistan Marble Mining, Processing, Industry and Exporters Association (APMMPIEA), Sanaullah Khan said PASDEC under the Ministry of Industries has invested around Rs 1.36 billion for the development of this sector during last three years.

Khan hailed the Ministry of Industries and Production initiative that it would spend 60 percent of its total budget through industrialisation in Balochistan. He said PASDEC imported dozers, wire cut machinery, loaders, excavators, block movement machinery, wire-saw and other tools.

He said losses could be reduced with the use of modern technology as Pakistan has one of the world's largest reserves of marble and granite, which India and China lack. If these resources were properly utilised it would increase economic development of the country as a whole as well as development of the concerned areas, he added. The traditional extraction method (blasting) has a very high percentage of wastage.

Up to 85 percent marble was wasted due to blasting, which means that most of natural reserve of marble and granite was heartlessly put to waste. Mr Khan said global trade in marble and granite is estimated at $41 billion annually. He said Pakistan remains a marginal market player with exports stagnant at about $32 million. The government has set an export target $500 million to be achieved by 2013 from export of marble and granite when all projects relating to establishment of Model Quarries and Marble Cities initiated by PASDEC. Mining and quarrying contributes about 0.5 percent to the GDP of Pakistan.

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