Punjab launches Rs5bn interest-free scheme for pink salt products

Business Recorder reported that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif launched the Pink Salt Value Addition Financing Scheme on Thursday and handed cheques to 10 businesspersons who received interest-free loans. The programme has Rs5 billion set aside, and individual firms can be financed for up to Rs50 million each. Provincial Mines and Minerals Minister Sher Ali Gorchani and Secretary Minerals Parvez Butt briefed the chief minister on the scheme.

Provincial authorities will cover Rs1.456 billion in interest charges on the loans. A 110-acre facility in Quaidabad, the Pink Salt Processing Unit, has been set up as a dedicated industrial hub. A planned processing zone there is expected to accommodate 200 value-addition units and generate jobs for over 10,000 people. Officials also pointed to a model retail outlet meant to boost awareness of pink salt branding, packaging, marketing and processing.

Officials estimated that value addition, branding and product development could lift yearly shipments abroad by as much as $300 million. The chief minister argued that Pakistan should ship branded pink salt instead of raw material, describing the mineral as a national asset. The businesspersons who received loans described the scheme as a significant initiative by the provincial government.