Sindh enjoys considerable investment in 2010

Three power projects, date farm projects, education city see progress.

KARACHI: Despite the deteriorating law and order conditions and economic instability, the province of Sindh has enjoyed a fruitful year in terms of investments.

Three new alternative energy projects were inaugurated in 2010 and other projects in the agriculture, fisheries, dairy and livestock, marble and granite and education sectors saw considerable progress and investments. The Sindh Board of Investment oversaw progress of total 10 projects this year.

A 34-megawatt solar power project was initiated in Dhabeji with the help of German investors. The project will invite an investment of $80 million and is supposed to be completed in one and a half years.

A wind power project in Jhimpir also saw progress during the year. The project is due to be completed with the help of a €65 million grant from the Netherlands, which is expected to be received in March next year, and will provide 35 megawatts of power. Another wind power project in Jhimpir was also initiated in 2010. This project will involve $125 million of investment from Iran.

The year also saw the inauguration of a project, which will provide dry plant and processing technologies for date farming in Khairpur. The project was a joint effort of the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, Agriculture Support Fund and Sindh Board of Investment. Farmers were provided with 250,000 plastic bags and 100,000 plastic trays at 50 per cent of the price to protect dates from rainfall and disease.

Four dry plants were also inaugurated for the purpose of drying dates and the next step in the project is a processing plant, with a monthly capacity of 3,000 tons. The processing plant will cost Rs100 million and will be a public-private partnership. The project will be completed in one to one and a half years and will allow the production of date syrup and paste.

Progress was also made during the year on the education city in Sindh, a project that had been lying idle for five years. Fifty educational institutes will be constructed in the project over an area of 9,000 acres and the project will invite billions of rupees in direct and indirect investment. The master plan for this project will be prepared by the middle of next year in collaboration with experts from Harvard University.

A marble mosaic training project was also finalised for women. A pilot project will be launched in Karachi in January and will be expanded to Sukkur, Hyderabad and Larkana.

A master plan was also completed for model fish farms along the 352-kilometre-long coastal belt in Sindh.

Another master plan was completed for a dairy village over an area of 2,500 acres in Bhumbhoor.

Another project for a marble city in Karachi was also finalised this year and is expected to be launched next month.

An agreement was also reached between the Board of Investment and Malaysia for the promotion of the country’s halal industry.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2010.