The Ministry for Industries and Production on Thursday said that if the government failed to provide funds to the Pakistan Steel Mill (PSM) by September 30, the mill would shut down completely. The Ministry for Industries and Production has moreover provided the Finance Ministry with three options regarding the future of PSM. The Economic Coordination Committee would analyse the three options today (Friday). The first option in the summary provided by the Industries Ministry states that if the government wants the PSM to keep operating, it should immediately release Rs29 billion for the organisation. The second option refers to a completely shutting down of the PSM, in which case all employees would have to be paid Rs 56 billion in total. The third option proposes that the PSM be handed over to the private sector. The summary further states that at present, the Steel Mill is working at 15 per cent of its total capacity, adding that if the government fails to provide the required amount by September 30, the PSM may completely shut down. Pakistan Steel Mills has had a rickety past few years, failing to come up with any positive results despite large grants given to it by the government.
In the last fiscal year, the company faced another loss of Rs23 billion as liabilities surged to Rs105 billion as of June 30, 2013.
