Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) Proposes to Lease Out to Chinese or Iranian – Pakistan Government

According to reports the Senate Standing Committee on Finance was told on wednesday that in the absence of a buyer, the government planned to lease out the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and the proposal was to lease out the mills to a Chinese or Iranian company

The committee was briefed by Privatisation Commission chairman Mohammad Zubair , who also underlined that PSM’s total losses had reached Rs220 billion and no one was ready to take responsibility of the crumbling giant, the mills fetched Rs23bn in 2006 when Rs8bn was parked in its balance sheet.

The cabinet decided that PSM should first be offered to the Sindh government and stopped the Privatisation Commission from proceeding with its plans. Mr Zubair said that the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation offered the Sindh government to take over the mills, but did not get any response.

The committee was informed that before October 2015, all due diligence and the other formalities were completed and PSM’s privatisation plan was presented to the cabinet after obtaining approval from the Privatisation Commission’s board.