Daily Times

Federal Minister of State for Industries & Production Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi has sought recommendations for establishing a fertiliser regulatory authority to meet the crisis of fertilisers in the country. In a meeting held at the National Fertiliser Corporation of Pakistan (NFC) here on Thursday, he said that there should be a mechanism to check prices, demand and supply of all fertilisers to facilitate farmers, adding that suggestions in this regard had been sought and measures would be taken at every level to highlight the issue. In a briefing, Company Secretary NFC Faisal Sultan told the minister that urea was being used for industrial purposes in the country, which should be banned as farmers were facing its shortage. The companies would have to turn towards producing ‘neem coated’ urea because in India, this experiment had helped increase crops production, and it also could not be used in industrial sector, he added. “The world is producing bio-fertiliser from industrial waste, while in Pakistan this project does not exist at mass level. Special attention should be paid in that regard, and the NFC is ready to launch a pilot project,” the officer said.

Tasneem Qureshi appreciated the ideas and said that all fertiliser issues were being taken up on priority and the government was committed to regulating prices, demand and supply of fertilisers.

Former president Pakistan People’s Party Punjab Imtiaz Safdar Warraich also attended the meeting while Aamer Hussain, General Manager (P&A)-NFC, Ajmal Rafique, In-charge (Accounts), Naseer Ahmed, Muhammad Zaheeruddin were also present. Earlier, Tasneem Qureshi visited Technology Upgradation and Skill Development Company’s (TUSDEC’s) different laboratories and checked the parameters adopted for the testing purposes.

Director Projects Nabeel Asghar, in a briefing, told the minister about departmental performance and said that TUSDEC had successfully implemented a range of development initiatives for key industrial sectors such as engineering, cement, textile, ceramics and skills development, with the support of the government, national and international donors. The company has so far implemented more than 20 projects worth Rs 4 billion approximately and more projects worth Rs 5.8 billion are in the implementation stage in the country related to technology upgradation and skills development.

The minister applauded the active role of TUSDEC in providing services to the local industries. Syed Maqsood Hussain, Chief HR & Admin Officer, Manzoor Bhatti, Chief Finance Officer, and other officers were also present.