Daily Times

Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Khan Gandapur decided in principle to formulate a new mining policy in the province and introduce rudimentary reforms in the mining sector.

Chairing a meeting of the Mines and Mineral Development Department here on Saturday, he directed the high-ups to impose a ban on the issuance of mineral leases until the formulation of the new policy and submit the details of the mining leases already issued. Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, Principal Secretary to CM Amjad Ali Khan, Secretary Finance Amir Sultan Tareen, Secretary Mines & Mineral Development Hameedullah Shah and other relevant quarters attended the meeting.

The Chief Minister also directed the the officials of the department to complete homework on establishing a government-owned mining company, introducing mechanical mining in the province and an E-bidding system for the issuance of mineral leases. He further directed the officials to shift the entire paperwork of the department to a paperless system.

Ali Amin Gandapur said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was blessed with precious mineral resources and the mineral sector had the potential to generate much revenue for the public exchequer, adding that it was need of the day to ensure prudent and effective use of the mineral resource to increase revenue. The Chief Minister stated that the universal resources were the assets of the people of the province, and made it clear that no individual will be allowed to use their resources for his benefit.

The Chief Minister remarked that an environment conducive to investment would be ensured for investors in the province. He clarified that investors would be encouraged to invest in the province and provided with full facilities under the provincial government’s ease-of-doing-business policy. However, he warned that leaseholders who do not accept the provincial government’s terms and conditions and do not give the government its fair share of revenue, would not be permitted to operate in the province.