Marble Industry of Pakistan (JR82)

Marble Industry of Pakistan (JR82)

Introduction

Pakistan has at its disposal a large range of natural stones suitable to be cut and polished and used as decorative building materials, tiles and smaller decorative articles. There are rich deposits of: dark green jade, light green onyx rarely found elsewhere in the World except Argentina and Turkey Ordinary marble is available in good quality and sufficient quantity. It is exported in forms of un-worked raw blocks, polished and unpolished slabs and tiles. Marble and onyx are used in Pakistan to produce a wide range of decorative and desk products which are appreciated in the world for both quality and design. Natural Stones of Pakistan are acknowledged world wide as best in quality, variety and color, marble sand stone and onyx are exclusive and unique in its shades and not found in any other region of the world.

Pakistani natural onyx marbles tiles are praised internationally and products attract the world architects and builders who wish to give more artistic look to their designs. Pakistani marble manufacturer are making varieties of floor and wall tiles, mosaic tile, sinks and basin pedestals, column slabs blocks bathroom accessories, table tops onyx and marble handicrafts products in competitive prices to capture the international market.

Status Quo

Italy the world leader in marble and stone related products uses a large amount of raw materials from Pakistan, materials that are not available in their own quarries. Today a considerable export market for a wide range of products rests unexploited. Foreign exchange can be earned by ceasing to export raw blocks and exporting finished products-.This is due to:

-       Generally imperfect production of final products due to obsolete and inappropriate machinery and knowhow which leads to: lot of wastage of very precious materials because of inappropriate machines and production planning;

-          Waste of time during the sawing process of blocks of very different sizes on expensive machinery; and the export of raw blocks because of the lack of equipment.

-       The biggest disadvantage of exporting raw materials is   there was ‘growth but it had no contribution in creating jobs or in the development of the sector You don’t need many people to dig up mines. When you set up a factory, you employ people; but if you just mine, you don’t need to set up a factory or employ to many people.

-       Crude manner in which marble deposits are mined by blasting which causes: considerable waste and breakage; cracks in blasted blocks and deposits; and in-homogeneity of size of blocks:

 Raw Materials

Marbles are generally composed of CaCO₃ with minor amount of other impurities which cause change of color which vary from white ( pure limestone) to brown, yellow , reddish (metal oxides) or grey to black graphite or green chlorites also called onyx .  Pakistan processes large deposits of so called “Indian red” granite for which considerable demand exists in the world. Nearly 30 kinds of marble were found in the province and the adjoining tribal belt. The most famous of these are Ziarat marble, super-white, off-white, Badal, Zebra, pink, Nowshera, Jet-black, Bampokha and golden marble

Swat, Buner, Chitral, Kohistan, Mardan, Hazara, Nowshera and Kohat divisions are high potential areas for quality marble in the province. Mohmand, Khyber, Bajaur, Orakzai and Kurram Agencies from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have huge marble reservoirs.

Pakistan has major deposits of high quality marble and granite in a wide range of colors, shades and patterns

Marble and onyx reserves are found largely in Mohmand Agency, Chitral, Buner, Swat, Parachinar, Gilgit, Hunza, Swabi, Bajour, Mardan, Wazirstan, Azad Kashmir, Lasbela, Chagai and Khuzdar. The biggest onyx reserves are said to be in Chaghai District in quarries largely owned by members of the Zehri tribe. Meanwhile, the report lists Gilgit, Dir, Chitral, Swabi, Kohistan, Nagarparker, Chagai, Mansehra, Malakand and Swat as places where granite deposits exist. However, the only known sources of “workable granite” according to this official report are in Nagarparkar and Mansehra.

Pakistan’s annual quarry production is 3.82 million tons. According to a province-wise break up; K-P’s production is 1.7 million tons, Baluchistan 1.4 million tons, FATA 0.5 million tons, Sindh 0.17 million tons and Punjab 0.0525 million tons. There are hundreds of names for different types of marbles. Most famous are sunny white, sunny black, buticinna, zebra, badal, ziarat and many more.

Pakistan is the 6th largest mineral extractor of marble and granite in the world. In spite of the huge size of the deposits and the long-term export potential, the country’s annual production of such stones has stagnated at around 2.5m tonnes, which contributes merely 2pc to the global market.

Reserves

Pakistan is estimated to have around 297bn tonnes of marble and granite reserves, mainly in the remote areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata, Balochistan and rural Sindh. Onyx, a rare marble, is abundant in the Chagai district of Balochistan; its dark green variety is found in five countries only. Its reserves are estimated at 34m cubic meters.

According to another estimates, there are 160.2 million tons of marble reserves in the country out of which 98% are in NWFP. Granite reserves, only at one place in Northern areas show a total of 414 million tons while other reserves of granite are spread all over NWFP, Baluchistan and Sindh.. More than 1,225 quarries and 2,000 processing units are operational.

Almost all provinces in Pakistan have ornamental stone deposits in wide range of colors, shades and patterns. Initial estimates indicate 166 billion tonnes of marble reserves across Pakistan. In North West Frontier Province(NWFP) the Malakand, Mardan, Hazar, Peshawer and Kohat divisions are high potential areas where quarrying is already taking place. Mohmand Khyber, Bajaur, Orakzai, Kurrani agencies in FATA has considerable quantity of marble. Baluchistan has rich confirmed deposits of both marble and granite in Khuzdar and Mianwali. Sindh boasts of gold ( Black Gold) colored stone which is highly priced in the global market. Large deposits of Onyx are found in Pakistan. According to Geological survey of Pakistan, reserves of green onyx in Chaghai district, and of other shades in Peshawer region, total about 34 million cubic metres. Huge deposits of Pakistan’s world famous marble varieties, golden marble and coral marble are available in province of Sindh in Pakistan. Mines of golden marble are located in Sonda in district Thatta, situated 125 km from Karachi. The estimated deposits of golden marble amount to over 50 million tonnes. Mines of coral marble are located in Thano Bulla Khan in district Dadu, situated 200 km from Karachi. The mines contain over 75 million tonnes of coral marble

Pakistan, especially NWFP, possesses huge marble reservoir. , Pakistan has approximately 300 billion tons of marble reserves scattered mainly in NWFP, the tribal belt and Baluchistan. Around 98 percent of these reserves are believed to be in NWFP and FATA. Of late, much of the potential however hitherto remains to be exploited large deposits of Onyx are found in Pakistan. According to Geological survey of Pakistan, reserves of green onyx in Chaghai district, and of other shades in Peshawar region, total about 34 million cubic metres.

 Huge deposits of Pakistan’s world famous marble varieties, golden marble and coral marble are available in province of Sindh in Pakistan. Mines of golden marble are located in Sonda in district Thatta, situated 125 km from Karachi. The estimated deposits of golden marble amount to over 50 million tonnes. Mines of coral marble are located in Thano Bulla Khan in district Dadu, situated 200 km from Karachi. The mines contain over 75 million tonnes of coral marble. Most of the production of dimension stone in Pakistanis consumed in the domestic market, leaving a small percentage for export. 

According to an estimate of Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC), 297 billion tons of Marble and Granite reserves are available in the country. More than 1,225 quarries and 2,000 processing units are operational. There are over 70 types of natural color marble and granite currently.

Pakistan’s marble resources are spread largely across three provinces: KP, Balochistan and Punjab. Some quarries also exist in Sindh and parts of Gilgit-Baltistan. A report published around 2010 by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) estimates marble and onyx reserves to be more than 300 billion tonnes while granite reserves are estimated to be 1,000 billion tonnes. In comparison, marble reserves in India are estimated to be 1,931 million tonnes.

PASDEC

Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) was established in 2006 as a not for profit Company under section 42 of the Companies Ordinance 1984. The Company is a subsidiary of Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) working under the auspices of Ministry of Industries & Production (MOIP) and is mandated to initiate multiple projects to uplift the existing set-up of marble and granite sector. 

 Pasdec plans to upgrade 14 quarries, develop 20 marble cities and 2000 marble factories and establish 20 training centers of mosaic, inlays and stone masonry across the country.

Model quarries are being set up according to the best international practices for extracting stone and employing latest technology. Marble Cities are being established in the vicinity of mines all over Pakistan. The Ministry of Industries has opened a machinery pool at the newly established marble city Risalpur with the help of Pasdec.

  the marble city will have a common facility and training centers (CFTCs) for training local managers, workforce and technicians to cut square dimension blocks into slabs, then polish and cut them to size on the state of the art machinery. The centers will be run by both local and International experts. “CFTCs will also have a Mosaic Development Center to provide industrial training in marble mosaic, handicrafts and inlays from industrial waste. The common facility will provide cutting, polishing and sizing services as well on reasonable rates to private entrepreneurs. There would also be an industrial park on the site  

Pasdec is committed to make the sector globally competitive and socially responsible dimension stone industry by ensuring extraction of “square blocks” through modern techniques. “This strategy will transform this industry in to a globally competitive industry and an engine of economic growth for the country. We hope to increase exports to $2.5 billion through the steps by the year 2016,” said a Pasdec official.

. He said we intend to utilize the marble powder for building blocks if facilitated. “We also would be developing the mosaic marble industry in the province. Very beautiful pieces can be prepared from what once were considered waste of marble,” he said.

PASDEC is establishing 4 marble cities besides setting up of 10 model quarries in various parts of the country such as in FATA, Lora Lai, Risalpur and Chitral, which is supposed to generate revenue of over Rs. 1 billion every month. The Pakistan Government also has plans to extend marble city projects to three more cities which include Karachi, Islamabad and Guddani.

Marble Factories

Over 1,400 quarries and 3,000 processing units are operational in the country, employing about 30,000 workers. There were only six marble factories   in the marble sector in 1990 now there are around 1700 of them in NWFP and FATA that provide 0.1 million direct and another 0.6 million indirect jobs to people. The sector generates an estimated millions of revenue annually for the government

Market Aspects and exports

Pakistan has at its disposal an ideal combination of huge quantities of good quality raw material and abundant work forced permitting price levels that would be competitive in world markets. Various types of stones and marbles found in Pakistan would be of interest to international buyers. In the past exports from Pakistan was only raw materials but gradually, due to imposition of export tax, handicrafts became a part of exports ., finished marble article prices comprise 65% as wages of workers and is therefore of great importance to Pakistan where there is wide spread unemployment . The fact that Pakistan exports raw materials which have a relatively low wage content in its price suggests that the value added option is of great importance to the country.

The global trade in marble and granite was estimated at $45 billion a year. But marble exports from Pakistan were only about $33 million last year. The export during the last four years has significantly increased in marble and granite sector, which is estimated at US $ 35,814,000  The industry has huge potential in export sector and   exports can be increased up to $300   Exports could even touch one billion dollars if sustained efforts are made. The government and private sector would have to do streamline supply of raw materials as well as address the inability to cater to high volume orders from abroad  India is a big market for the marbles. It's mines at Makrana (from where the Marbles of Taj Mahal came) is drying and now it is importing marbles from as far as Italy. Develop your mines and find a readymade market next to you.

A simultaneous development came in 2006 when Pakistan and China inked a Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect a year later. The FTA turned the (export) tariff rates into “preferential” ones for China — not zero but not the lucrative sums that ought to have been charged either. With the Chinese entering the marble sector, quarry owners began holding direct dialogue and transactions with them. Production was stemmed to meet Chinese demand — quarry owners felt that the Chinese would pay them higher rates for the marble mined. Data available with the Federal Bureau of Statistics shows that marble exports had started declining since 2005 before it went up later. Combined with low tariffs at the border, taking marble to China became simpler and arguably more lucrative too.

En masse dumping of marble in the international market meant that the prices came down. And with prices driven downwards, Pakistani exporters began competing amongst themselves. As negative as the impact of this competition was, it’s not this anarchy that hurt the sector the most.

What “ruined the industry” — a recurring phrase in almost all interviews conducted — and continues to do is the wholesale exports of marble blocks (raw marble mined out of quarries in the shape of square blocks) to China to feed its construction appetite.

We have a marble known as Black and Gold, which sells a lot in China. Five years ago, it was selling at 375 US dollars. An equivalent Italian marble called Portoro was selling at more than 1,000 US dollars. Today the price of Black and Gold is down to 125 US dollars while Portoro has gone from 1,000 to 2,500 US dollars

 Some Pakistani marble has the same characteristics as Italian marble, the difference stems from no official oversight on extraction, supply and marketing. In recent times, for example, the Canalgrande quarries in Italy have been featured on the international media as the place from where some 65,000 tonnes of marble are extracted every year. In comparison, the medieval technology of blasting is all that Pakistan has to show at its mines.

“The Italians built that image, they know how to market their product,” argues Hashwani. “Unfortunately in Pakistan, most stakeholders started competing against each other.”

The consequences of the unhindered outflow of marble blocks are manifold. The immediate impact is the “unavailability of raw materials” Even if the raw material is available, Pakistani buyers have to compete with Chinese buyers for their own natural resources, which most cannot afford given the rise in prices due to Chinese demand.

Local buyers are left with “second and third-rate categories of marble, We get blocks that are potato-shaped that need more work to cut. About 80 percent or so is just useless. After cutting it from six sides to turn it into a square block, we are only left with a small amount that’s usable.”

“China is the biggest importer of marble from Pakistan, however, the marble exported to China also includes semi-processed marble, which is then re-exported from China after value addition, which is hurting Pakistan’s marble industry to a significant extent,” cites a research report compiled by the State Bank of Pakistan titled Marble and Marble By-products.

“What adds to this loss of marble in production is the fact that a majority of our mining is done through blasting,” says Hashwani of this primitive method of mining. “About 80 percent of the marble is wasted.”

“China, on the other hand, gets to have square blocks It also pays no export duty to Pakistan, and the freight the Chinese pay to transport the material on ship is just 50 dollars per container”. The most consequential impact of the export of raw marble to China is that it’s simply preventing the local industry from developing value-adding capacity. As it stands, the marble industry is basically a trading industry,”  , which is “not helping the country at all.”

Open-ended policies mean that just as there is no control over exports, there’s no check on what’s being imported either. Whereas the outflow is that of prime raw marble, the inflow is that of top-end finished products. Since the local industry’s growth is stunted and there’s no local value-addition, the import of value-added is a double-whammy. Forget foreign markets, Pakistani producers can’t even compete in their own country thanks to the influx of Spanish and Italian products.

This means that local producers are missing out on construction projects such as Bahria Town and DHA City. “Almost all of the marble being used in these projects is imported,”  Because any big project wants steady quality and consistency, they have a problem getting that here in Pakistan .

Our exporters, when they go and compete in the international market with China, they are competing with their own products. And we can’t even compete with it since we don’t have the capacity to process our own raw materials. China accounts for 60pc of Pakistan’s total marble exports. China and Italy purchase raw products like slabs and blocks and re-export value-added items like mosaic work, inlay designs and tiles around the world, including to Pakistan.

Russia and the US, as well as Middle Eastern and European countries demand finished marble products, and thus constitute less than 10pc of our export. Saudi Arabia alone imports marble products worth $1,500m. This indicates the dire need for developing technology to capture value-added export markets.

The overall marble sector export stood at $39.46 million during July-June 2017, registered a decline of around $18.50 million as compared to the same period last year that stood at $57.97 million

Training and HR Development

Marble Mosaic Training in Islamabad: Pakistan Stone Development Company in collaboration with UNIDO launched a series of marble mosaic and inlay training sessions to promote skill development and entrepreneurship culture amongst women. The program generates opportunities of livelihood in remote and rural areas at economical cost of production. 

Demand

The number of countries importing marble and marble products from Pakistan is gradually increasing, major importers are: Japan; USA ‘, Saudi Arabia, Czech Republic; Singapore; UK ; and Finland., in that order . The demand in these countries is such that the supply of products can be increased Local and foreign importers of granite would welcome Pakistani granite.

Technological advances in the last seventy years had increased the world production and consumption of dimensional stones to 49.5 million tons.  Due to increase in world

Consumption the granite and marble international trade reached US$ 2.5 billion mark in 1999.  Italy  is  the  major  player  in  the  international  market  and  exported  38%  of  the dimensional stone’s exports, while its imports were 18% of the international imports. Other major exporters include Spain, Turkey and Portugal while major importers were USA, China,

Germany and Hong Kong.

Major International Players

India has been the main exporter of granite and sandstone for the last five years. Its exports have declined by 46% in five years but it managed to capture 15.11% of the granite trade in

1999. Norway, which had 12.15% of the export share and Italy, capturing 8.47% of granite market in 1999 were two other major exporters.

                      

Italy, Turkey, China, Brazil and Spain are the major players with a huge share of the marble and granite exports in the world market. Pakistan has only 0.05% share, which is less than our rival's, India.  Pakistan has an edge over India and China in quality marble and granite reserves but poor management of the resource means that we are squandering the resource .

Investment opportunities

Pakistan offers big investment opportunities in mining, value addition and manpower development in the sector. Recent reports suggest that Saudi Arabia is interested in Pakistani marble to build its new cities with an expenditure of around $260 billion. Italy and other countries, it is learnt, want barter trade of their marble machinery & technology in exchange for the Pakistani marble. All this shows great investment potential in Pakistan’s marble and granite sector.  

Technology requirements

The normal equipment in some of the quarries is: iron lever; quarry hammers; hand actuated winch. Quarries equipped with baby drills or small compressor and able to drill boreholes for charge placement are considered as well equipped. Lack of technical knowledge and lack of finances are the main reason for this. There is lack of cranes to handle the raw blocks. The exception has been onyx where on the insistence of foreign buyers the material is mined by means of modern methods

The processing and finishing sector is also equipped with sub standards machines. The local industry produces some of these machines but these are mostly shoddy copies and provide indifferent performance resulting in bad quality of the products.

The handicrafts industry is mainly located in Karachi mainly due to te fact that the main sales and distribution center for onyx from Baluchistan is there .Some of this work is world class These units that manufacture world class products show the way towards general excellence given education , finances and organization .

Problems faced by Marble Industry

Around 75 percent of the industrialist’s time was consumed by the ten different types of departments he had to deal with for his business. Reduction and simplification of the regulatory system would be of great benefit to the small businesses of the sector.

Current blasting practices hurt the industry as this causes 85% wastages whereas the Industry average is around 45%. The marble industry is suffering from load-shedding, low voltage, law and order problem, use of outdated quarrying techniques, inconsistent supplies of raw material, lack of proper infrastructure, lack of value addition and absence of public-private cooperation/coordination  

The irregularly shaped blocks are transported to considerable distances. The cost of the finished blocks is much larger than these should. For starters the blocks need to be processed as close to the mines as possible. These areas need to have infrastructure improved.

Despite the poverty of the industry, it is the exports to China that have proven to the main boon for the Pakistani marble industry. During the peak years of exports to Pakistan’s neighbor to the north, however, the outflow of marble only served to weaken the country’s industry further. Even today, despite the changes in Chinese policies, Beijing remains the worlds, and Pakistan’s, top buyer of marble. The irony, however, is that the Pakistani marble sector continues to suffer as a result. What explain this decline is the intertwined factors of the export orientation of the industry, the absence of regulation, and lack of focus on value addition. 

Pakistani exporters have demanded the inclusion of semi-processed marble in the Sino Pak Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as currently the export of raw material to China is not benefiting the marble industry. Pakistan sends almost 50 percent of its marble exports to China and this huge share of export is based on the raw material which is zero rated under the FTA. The raw material currently being exported to China is re-exported from China after value addition which is hurting the marble industry in Pakistan.

The problems faced by the marble industry are summarized s follows:

-       Quality and size of the blocks quarried in the first place

-       Separation of production of raw materials and finishing add transport costs

-       Low efficiency of finishing units

-       Bad quality of finished products related to : surface polishing ; exact measures ; qualities of accessories in case of finished products

-       Infrastructure lacking in mining areas

-       Trade agreements with China that are inimical to development o of the sector in Pakistan

-      Lack of a collective organization that is responsible for standards, norms, correct pricing and marketing in cooperation with the Export Promotion Bureau

-      Aggressive international marketing efforts in way of trade fairs, exposition f samples

-      Speculation by persons not interested in the industry in way of: quarry licenses; export of raw materials instead of finished products; and general export prices.

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Way Forward

The government must improve the power infrastructure, water, sewerage and road networks. It should ensure soft loans to the potential investors to enable them get modern quarrying machinery. The government should open a mineral development bank for the sector.  It should also help establish training centers for workforce and a safe and healthy environment, the ministry of industries and private sector should join hands to explore more marble sites, develop marble industry on modern lines and open marble processing units in areas where the treasures are located. This will help bring the transportation cost down, create job opportunities for locals and would develop most of these backward areas. Steps: to promote the stone industry by streamlining and modernizing it; for processing blocks and slabs by cutting, sizing, polishing and inlay-designing. Marble miners should stop method of blasting and get the latest machinery on rental basis for extracting marble. Standard wastage in the world is 45 percent for the marble sector. In Pakistan, blasting destroys 85 percent marble in mining. Wire-cutting-technology would be provided to the miners on rental basis to avoid wastage of marble

Lack of slabs of internationally acceptable quality and the low polishing and finishing quality of the material produced. are the main reasons for the low performance of the industry.

In a recent letter the All Pakistan Marble Mining Processing Industry & Exporters Association (APMMPIEA) has demanded that the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan and Ministry of Commerce include the semi-processed or un-finished marbles like tiles, slabs and other items, into the zero rated list of Pakistan-China FTA to support the local industry. The letter said”China is one of our biggest buyer of marble but its purchases are only limited to raw material (Squared Marble, Granite and Onyx Blocks), which is not helping our Industry

There should be an export quota: only 30 percent of the exports should be of marble blocks whereas 70 percent of the exports should only be of added-value materials produced locally. A change in the import policy, in line with the demand of change on the export policy, namely that which allows the local industry to move from trading marble to processing it. There should be duty on imports of finished products Net phase of CPEC should include transfer of Chinese marble industry to Pakistan so that raw material os processed and then exported.

Suggestions are given below to help the country realize its potential as a ‘stone exporter’.

• Upgrade operational and abandoned quarries and processing units. Locally manufactured machinery has been employed in hundreds of processing units that need to be upgraded and modernized to meet international quality standards.

Likewise, handling, cutting, storing and transportation must be significantly improved. Production volumes must be expanded to match the availability of exploitable reserves in line with market demands. For instance, Pakistan has granite reserves of over 2bn tonnes; however, average annual production is limited to 6,000 tonnes only.

• Adopt state-of-the-art mining technologies, as the current blasting practices in Pakistan cause a huge loss of precious stone. Benchmarking with global quarrying performance shows that the standard wastage of marble in the world is 45pc, whereas it is 85pc here. Mine-operational performance could be improved and financial losses due to wastages minimized by introducing latest technologies.

• Develop infrastructure in areas where the stone deposits are located. The quarrying sector cannot be developed and expanded without basic infrastructural facilities such as electricity, road network and security. In fact, around 98pc of the dimension stone deposits are located in KP and Fata, which have been impacted by the war against terrorism over the last many years. The government needs to do something about this. The fact that transportation costs and other costs are huger than what these should be needs to be investigated and mitigated.

• Market reports indicate that Saudi Arabia is interested in Pakistani marble to build its new cities. And Italy and some other European countries want to sell their marble machinery and technology in exchange for Pakistani marble. According to the Pakistan Stone Development Company, exports of dimension stones could touch $2.5bn within a few years if sustained efforts are made to overcome bottlenecks.

• Facilitate investors to overcome power shortages; the erratic power crisis is a gigantic obstacle in attracting investments. Most of the existing dimension-stone processing units have been compelled to work on 5pc of installed capacity due to hours of load-shedding. For instance, to meet the industrial power needs, investors must be encouraged to install and maintain their own coal-power plants.  

• Introduce business-friendly laws and capacity-building initiatives. The government can help establish training centers for the workforce and provide a safe and healthy work environment. Skilled manpower could play a cutting edge role in optimizing quarrying operations and processing units. And local laws for exploration and exploitation of dimension stones should supplement these efforts.

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Conclusion

The government of KP is suggested to utilize the funds made available from “Profit on Hydel Generation” upon development of the marble and granite sector in the province instead of using these funds to build more hydropower plants. The switch will result in significant increase in jobs and in development of the Province.

Funds provided should : provide training ; provide subsidized modern machinery; and develop infrastructure of the mingy areas . Government should also freshly negotiate the trade agreement with China related to Marble and precious stones sectors.

Business community demands govt’s focus on marble sector

Call for restoring fixed tax regime

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Our CorrespondentApril 24, 2022

PHOTO: AFP

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ISLAMABAD:

In order to optimise the tax collection and broaden the tax base, the government should re-introduce the fixed tax regime for the marble industry on the pattern of the tier-II retailers who pay sales tax through electricity bills, suggested Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Muhammad Shakeel Munir.

In a statement on Saturday, he said that effective from June 2016, the marble industry was paying a fixed sales tax at Rs1.25 on per unit of electricity consumed as a final discharge of its net sales tax liability to the extent of marble and granite manufacturing, grinding and polishing process.

“However, the Finance Act 2020 abolished this regime and the marble industry is now subject to the normal sales tax at 17% due to which, the growth and expansion of this industry is suffering,” he said. “The government should re-introduce the fixed tax regime for the marble industry in the next budget which will pave the way for its better growth and increase the overall tax collection from this sector as people would willingly pay the fixed tax.”

Munir said that according to a research study, Pakistan possessed over 292 billion tons of marble reserves and 99% of them existed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) region. He added that Buner, Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Mansehra, Malakand and Chitral districts were rich in marble.

According to him, substantial investment was required for developing a mine as per the international standards. He emphasised upon the government to devise a mechanism to provide financial support to the investors of the marble industry to enable them to import the required equipment and machinery for producing value-added marble products and boosting exports.

The ICCI president lamented that roads in the marble extraction areas were not properly developed and the necessary infrastructure such as electricity, colonies for the workers and transportation arrangements was insufficient.

“Due to these problems, the transportation costs of blocks from quarries to processing units increases the production cost considerably which affects the market trends,” he said. “The government should look into the issues of the marble industry and address them so that this industry can grow rapidly and play a more effective role in the economic development of the country.”

ICCI Senior Vice President Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh and Vice President Muhammad Faheem Khan said that lack of research and development culture in the mining sector was another major problem of this sector.

They urged the government to cooperate in setting up research and development facilities for the marble industry and argued that they would go a long way in promoting this important industry and increase its contribution in the development of the national economy.