KARACHI: Investors from five companies in the Bin Qasim Industrial Park (BQIP) are incurring heavy losses which include three from the automobile sector due to unavailability of utilities.

These projects are at advanced stages of construction and an official at one of the five entities shared their total investment stood at Rs35 billion in BQIP, which comes under the aegis of National Industrial Park (NIP), reports Express Tribune.

The official who preferred anonymity said the entities were suffering losses to the tune of millions of rupees due to unavailability of utilities.

Also, things have further been worsened by 18 percent devaluation of the rupee in the last nine months.

The official shared equipment had arrived, however, there was no power to install and commence commercial production, which was causing heavy losses.

He added the delay in commencement of plant start-up was a big cause of worry for the investors and bank’s financial charges on loans obtained were adding to their misery.

The official pointed out that Karachi had become unviable for business in comparison to Lahore and Faisalabad because of basic infrastructure and utilities.

Moreover, the source repeated the entities were shifting to Punjab, where they were being welcomed.

The official stated BQIP had delayed the provision of utilities by two years and in the present scenario, nothing was in sight for the next one year.

A top official from another entity said they weren’t in a hurry to receive utilities since their installation was ongoing, however, they were compelled to do the work themselves, which they weren’t supposed to originally.

The company was working directly with K-Electric for the supply of electricity, but utilities were to be provided by BQIP, which wasn’t the case, said the official.

As per the companies, these projects will provide about 3,500 jobs for skilled workers, technicians, engineer and management professionals in Karachi.

Five companies namely Barkat Frisian, Horizon Steel, Kia Lucky Motors, Hitech Auto Parts and Techno Auto Glass have either concluded work at their plants or are in the process of doing so.