Govt looking to privatise 49 public companies in five years

Islamabad: The federal government has decided to privatise 49 public sector companies within the next five years, a news source reported. The decision was taken by National Assembly’s Standing Committee for Privatisation under Syed Mustafa Mahmood in a session.

Read: Pakistan eyes USD 40 bn foreign investment in five years

Secretary for Privatisation Rizwan Malik briefed the session. He said that 15 companies had been taken out of the privatisation list and eight others have been added to it.

Pakistan is in discussion with half a dozen companies from Russia and China to run the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) under public-private partnership. Plans are also underway to increase its capacity from 1.1 million tonnes to 3.5 million tonnes per year.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the PSM have so far faced combined losses of around PKR 600 billion. Of that, PIA losses stand at around PKR 400 billion. PSM is on the list of companies to be privatised.

Read: Balochistan governor calls for increased privatisation

In case of PIA, the government has decided to take it off the privatisation list. The government is now making efforts to make it profitable.

Below is the complete list of companies to be privatised:

Organisations to be privatised in the first phase spanning the next one and a half years

1- SME bank Limited

2- First Women Bank Limited

3- 1223 MW Balloki Power Plant

4- 1230 MW Haveli Bahadur Power Plant

5- Mari Petroleum Limited (divestment of remaining shares)

6- Jinnah Convention Centre, Islamabad

7- Lakhra Coal Mines (now Lakhra Coal Development Company)

8- Services International Hotel, Lahore.

Organisations to be privatised in the second phase:

1- House Building Finance Corporation

2- National Investment Trust Limited (NITL)

3- National Insurance Company (NIC)

4- Pakistan Reinsurance Company (PRC)

5- State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC)

6- Oil and Gas Development Corporation Limited (OGDCL)

7- Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL)

8- Government Holding Private Limited (GHPL)

9- Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC)

10- Faisalabad Electric Supply Company Limited (FESCO)

11- Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO)

12- Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO)

13- Gujranwala Electric Power Company Limited (GEPCO)

14- Multan Electric Power Company Limited (MEPCO)

15- Peshawar Electric Supply Company Limited (PESCO)

16- Hyderabad Electric Supply Company Limited (HESCO)

17- Quetta Electric Supply Company Limited (QESCO)

18- Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO)

19- Kot Addu Power Company (KAPCO)

20- Jamshoro Power Generation Company Ltd – JPCL (GENCO- I)

21- Central Power Generation Company Ltd – CPGCL (GENCO – II)

22- Lakhra Power Generation Company Ltd – LPGCL (GENCO – IV)

23- Northern Power Generation Company Ltd – NPGCL (GENCO – III)

24- PIA-IL (Roosevelt Hotel, NY & Scribe Hotel, Paris)

25- National Fertilizers Corporation, its units and subsidiaries

26- State Engineering Corporation, its units and subsidiaries

27- Heavy Electrical Complex (HEC)

28- Pakistan Machine Tool Factory (PMTF)

29- Pakistan Engineering Company (PECO)

30- Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) and its units

31- Sindh Engineering Limited (SEL)

32- Morafco Industries (Machinery as is where is basis)

33- Republic Motors Limited (RML)

34- Pakistan Industrial and Technical Training Centre

35- Export Processing Zone Authority

36- Port Qasim Authority (PQA)

37- Karachi Port Trust (KPT)

38- Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC)

39- Telephone Industries of Pakistan, Haripur (TIP)

40- Pakistan Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (PTCL)

41- National Book Foundation (NBF)