ISLAMABAD – The parliament was informed on Monday that the deteriorating law and order situation coupled with gas and power shortages had led to the closure of 307 industrial units in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and 14 in Balochistan last year.
Responding to queries during the question hour, Minister for Industries and Production Mir Hazar Khan Bajarani admitted that power and gas shortages and the worsening law and order situation, besides disputes of industries with banks over loan repayment or among partners, had led to the closure of these units during 2009-10.
The minister said both Sindh and Punjab provinces were yet to provide data to the ministry on industrial units’ closure. Earlier, MNA Mir Munawar Talpur said the reluctance by authorities of Sindh to provide data to the ministry regarding closure of industrial units might hint at the closure of a large number of industries across the province.
However, Bajarani rejected the assumption and said Sindh did not maintain any such data on establishment of industry in the province.
