PM to hold ground-breaking of HNML’s new car plant

LAHORE (Staff Reporter): Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will be the chief guest of the ground-breaking ceremony of the new cars assembly plant of the Hyundai Nishat Motor (Private) Limited (HNML) being held on Dec 20 (Wednesday) at M-3 Industrail City, Faisalabad. The ceremony will also be attended and addressed by Punjab chief minister, federal minister for industries and production, Hyundai Corporation representatives and Nishat Group chairman. It is to be noted that the HNML, a subsidiary of Nishat Group, has entered into an agreement with the government to manufacture passenger and one ton commercial vehicles. According to reports, the investment agreement was signed with the Ministry of Industries and Production under the Automotive Development Policy 2016-21 for setting up a Greenfield project to undertake assembly and sale of passenger and commercial vehicles. The project would be able to avail duty concessions and incentives available under the policy, subject to completion of requisite formalities.

Thar coal cheapest option in energy

supply chain: FPCCI

ISLAMABAD (INP): The Businessmen Panel of the FPCCI on Saturday said Thar coal remains cheapest option for power generation in the energy supply chain. Commercial production of electricity from Thar coal will boost the share of coal in the energy mix from the current less than one percent to 24 percent within three years, it said. Increased share of the local coal in the energy mix will save billions of dollars in the oil import bill while the power production will jump to fifteen gigawatts within a decade burying energy crisis forever, said Naseemur Rehman, central leader of BMP. He said that Chinese investment worth billions of dollars in the project has settled misgivings about the project and now foreign investors are taking interest in it while local industrial groups are also demanding cheap coal for their own power generation. Naseemur Rehman said that Thar contains around 175 billion tonnes of coal enough to revolutionise the country’s economy.

These deposits were not used for decades but now the situation has changed which will lead to economic prosperity of the country.

The area holds more energy than the combined energy of Saudi Arabia and Iran which can change the fate of the country, he noted.

He said that Thar is home to 25 million people; it is rich in resources but one of the most underdeveloped areas in the country where many suffer from malnutrition and other problems.

The government and private sector should also pay attention to the development of the social sector otherwise all efforts aimed at economic development could fail.

 FBR field formations asked to maintain 19pc revenue growth

ISLAMABAD (APP): Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue Haroon Akhtar Khan Saturday called on the field formations of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to maintain the ongoing momentum and ensure 19 per cent growth in the revenue collection. He was addressing a meeting of chief commissioners held in Lahore to review the performance of regional tax offices and to ensure that target assigned for the second quarter should be met accordingly, a press statement by FBR said. Haroon Akhtar Khan is visiting the Regional Tax Offices on the special instructions of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to ensure optimal revenue generation and resource mobilisation in the coming months. The meeting was attended by the chief commissioners from Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) Lahore, Corporate Regional Tax Office (CRTO) Lahore, Regional Tax Office (RTO) Lahore, Multan, Sahiwal,  Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Sialkot. He further stressed that maximum efforts must be maintained to achieve the targets to keep the growth of revenues at 19 per cent.

 Agri dept decides to use drone tech

MULTAN (APP): The agriculture department has decided to introduce drone technology to bring about a revolution in the agriculture sector. According to an agriculture department spokesperson, the Punjab government had given permission for using drone technology to get better production from crops. The technology would be used for monitoring pesticides, irrigation sources and geographical survey. The willing farmers for using drone would submit their applications with the district deputy director (extension) office who would put up applications to committee consisted of deputy commissioners and DPOs concerned for final approval. The committee would issue NOC after legal action and would also mention place, time and duration for the agri use of drone. The police personnel would also be deputed along with drone operator during the use of drone for agriculture purpose. Meanwhile, farmers must use modern technology to increase per acre crop production and benefit from financial packages of the Punjab government, said Depurt Commissioner Muhammad Ibrahim here Saturday.

Presiding over a meeting on task force for agriculture and another consultative committee convened here, he said the provincial government had launched various programmes for welfare of the farming community. Deputy Director Agriculture Mehr Abid Hussain said the department had cultivated canola crop on 700 acres this year. He said over 15,000 farmers had until now received over Rs750 million interest-free loans, while 27,000 farmers were registered for award of subsidy on seeds and fertilisers.