The French automobile manufacturer in its joint venture with UAE’s Al-Futtaim had planned to set up a manufacturing and assembly plant in Pakistan, followed by an Initial Direct Investment (FDI) of 165 million USD.
The company is now looking to extend the time frame for the launch of its vehicles in Pakistan.
The joint venture has already purchased 67 acres of land in the M-3 Industrial City in May last year in Faisalabad. Earlier, the plan was to set the plant in Karachi, but due to documentation difficulties, it was moved to Faisalabad.
The automobile company is seeking extension till 2023 in Auto Policy which expires in 2021. In addition to that, the investors are also expecting an extension of 10-year tax holiday under Special Economic Zone incentives. Prior this week.
The project was scheduled to be completed in the last quarter of 2018 and would start production in 2020. However, no construction work has been started as yet.
French Senator Pascal Allizard, leading a three-member French Parliamentary Group, last month claimed that Renault was keen to set up a manufacturing plant in Pakistan. On the other hand, the company has said that it may exit Pakistan if the government does not facilitate them.
The government’s stance will be clear by today, as a meeting is scheduled between the government officials and the investors. Prime Imran Khan has also asked the concern departments to give special attention to this matter and remove any hindrance to secure the investment opportunity.
Sources said that the country’s worsening economic indicators had shaken investor confidence while massive rupee devaluation against the dollar from January 2018 to date had hit the economic viability of the project besides soaring project cost.
