Daily Times

The Russian experts, on the request of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah have agreed to submit their proposals for modernization of Steel Mill for which a study visit would be conducted.

This was emerged on Tuesday when a delegation of St. Petersburg, Russia led by its Advisor Andrey Zubal along with his delegation called on the Sindh Chief Minister and discussed the projects, said a statement issued here on Tuesday.

The delegation members include Consul General of Russia in Karachi Rus Welding, Dr Aleksandr G Khozin, Ahmed Rana of Concord Ventures (PVT) limited and Attaché, Russian Consulate Pavel Yamanov.

The chief minister was assisted by Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Shah, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Chairman P&D M. Waseem, PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro, Secretary Local Government Najam Shah, Secretary energy Tariq Shah. The Government of St. Petersburg, Russia has shown its interest to work with the provincial government of Sindh on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode in hydro-treatment facilities, waste processing and waste-to-energy sectors.

The chief minister said that the Russian Government had constructed a huge project of Steel Mills in Karachi. Now, the mills needed not only to be overhauled but had to be modernized to need the present steel production requirements.

The visiting delegation decided to send their team to visit the mill to assess the requirements for its modernization. The chief minister said that he had already constituted a provincial ministers’ committee to study the issues of the mills and recommend their resolution.

Syed Murad Ali Shah said that with the closure of the mill, the employment of a large number of its employees had been affected badly.

The meeting decided to take up the modernization of the steel project on priority basis and its feasibility and mode would be studied and shared with the provincial government.

The meeting also decided to study the feasibility of establishing a 50 MW power waste-to-energy plant at Dhabeji.

The chief minister told the delegation that there was a railway line from Karachi to Dhabeji where a power plant can be installed. Another site for the project could be Jam Chakro.

The experts of St. Petersburg would visit the sites to finalize the project.

The other project which came under discussion was establishment of water distribution system in Karachi and installation of treatment plants.

The St. Petersburg experts would hold more meetings with the provincial government’s concerned departments and visit the sites to choose the projects of their choice.

The delegation has submitted a conceptual proposal to the provincial government for a solid waste management system. The provincial government would also study their proposal for further action.