Balochistan govt is unable to pay such a huge sum to Chinese company. PHOTO: FILE
The adviser to Balochistan chief minister on finance, Mir Khalid Langov, has revealed that the Chinese company MCC had demanded Rs27 billion for transfer of Saindak project to the government of Balochistan.
The company argued that it had invested Rs27 billion on exploration of copper and gold in Saindak which should be repaid to the company before the transfer of project to Balochistan government.
The adviser said Balochistan is unable to pay such a huge amount of money to the Chinese company, as the provincial government has no resources for this purpose. He said that in 10 years, the provincial government is expected to earn merely Rs10 billion from the project.
Langov said that the federal government had promised during the autonomy talks for Balochistan and other provinces to allow five per cent royalty from Saindak Mines with 30 per cent share in profit and taxes.
He claimed that the federal government had failed to fulfil its promise to date, but the Balochistan government is still hopeful on this matter.
He said the government in the next fiscal year would spend Rs4.5 billion on exploration of mines and gold in the 7km area of Reko Dik.
The amount is spent on Reko Dik as part of the Rs12 billion package for promoting investment, he added.
He expressed concern over the falling revenue of natural gas to Balochistan, claiming that the share of Balochistan in natural gas production had fallen to a mere 20 per cent.
He defended the increase in salaries and allowances of ministers, saying that the total impact will be around Rs325 million. “The purpose of increase in salary was to curb and minimize corruption.”
He said around Rs5 billion could not be used in the development programme during the current fiscal year as the allocation is non-lapsable.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 21st, 2014.
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China laid railway track and also explored Sandak. Certainly they also extracted gold apart from copper. How much they gave to the Government f Baluchistan and or Pakistan.Will any one give details. I have also traveled to Sandak via Taftan. There was also an airport and had many workers.What happened now. Secondly, Mr Arsalan should himself resign from the post for the sake of his honorable father. Some one having knowledge of metallurgy and mining be given the job. If Mr. Arsalan is keen ( although a millionaire, can assist this expert.
China will get all our gold - Their profit is 90 percent while ours is only 10 percent.
ask Arsalun Iftikhar or Zaradai for partnership, simple?
All losses on these projects should be recovered from ex-CJ who interfered in these matters and drove investors away.