The government has allocated funds amounting to Rs150.560m in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP 2022-23) to advance an ongoing project of establishing a modern National Minerals Data Centre (NDMC). The project, initiated last year, is aimed at compiling the data of available minerals for facilitation of investors and the future projects’ planning in the country. The two-year project is being jointly carried out by the Petroleum and Planning Divisions in consultation with all Provincial Mines & Minerals Departments including that of Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Geological Survey of Pakistan. “Pakistan has world-class minerals’ resource potential but contribution in the national GDP is less than 1pc which is considerably below the global average of 2-8pc of GDP primarily due to non-availability of integrated geological, regulatory and other relevant data that is the basic requirement for investment facilitation and projects’ planning,” according to an official document available with APP. Under the project, Geographic Information System (GIS)- based integrated solutions and application development would be established to ensure availability of online geo-spatial data and maps for investment facilitation and benefit of the stakeholders in the minerals sector. The NMDC would contain information such as geological and geochemical maps, minerals sample analysis reports, airborne geophysical maps, areas granted and applied for mineral titles, roads and rails layers, geographical borderlines (province, district and town), reserves areas like ‘strategic, forest and religious places. ‘The compiled data would be categorized for publication through web-portal as per guidelines issued by the government. “The exercise will be a regular activity and information will be updated accordingly,” the document said.