Pakistan Minerals and Mining Updates

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Lithium ley lo, cobalt ley lo…

 

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Karachi to Get Pakistan’s First Marble City​

By Arsalan Khattak | Published Nov 6, 2026 | 5:34 pm


The Sindh government is establishing Pakistan’s first Marble City in Karachi to attract investment, promote industrial activity and create employment opportunities.

Sindh Information and Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon announced the project at the pre-launch ceremony of the Karachi Marble City Industrial Park. He said the project would enable local processing of marble and granite from Sindh and other parts of the country using modern machinery and technology.

Spread over more than 300 acres along the Northern Bypass, the project carries an estimated cost of $250 million and will operate under a public-private partnership framework.

The government has set the average land price at approximately Rs. 25 million per acre and will offer installment plans to investors.

Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Investment Qasim Naveed Qamar said the government was also exploring ways to provide affordable electricity, machinery on rent and modern industrial equipment to businesses operating in the park.


Investor registration is scheduled to begin next month. Memon said the project would help Pakistan produce finished marble and granite products for international markets instead of exporting raw materials.

 

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Sindh's wider market: Thar coal gets pricing overhaul​

CM approves revised pricing framework for non-IPP buyers


The report notes that excessive levels of selenium, arsenic, mercury, chromium, and lead are of recent origin and associated with coal activities in the Thar coalfields. PHOTO: file

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THAR:
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has approved a revised pricing mechanism for Thar coal sales to buyers other than independent power producers (IPPs), in a major push to expand the market for the indigenous fuel, while endorsing Rs9.66 billion in verified financial claims related to duties, taxes and workers' profit participation.

The decisions were taken at the 31st meeting of the Thar Coal and Energy Board, chaired by the chief minister and attended by federal ministers, where the board also approved tariff adjustments and reviewed progress on mining, transportation and energy infrastructure projects.

The revised Chapter 3 of the Thar Coal Pricing Framework 2015 establishes a transparent mechanism for determining prices for non-IPP buyers, distinguishing between short- and long-term coal supply arrangements. It also introduces safeguards to prevent double recovery of costs and ensure that benefits associated with capacity charges already paid by electricity consumers are duly credited to them.

Importantly, costs associated with coal sales to non-IPP buyers will not be passed on through IPP tariffs, protecting existing electricity consumers from additional financial burdens. The framework is aimed at attracting new buyers, encouraging wider industrial use of Thar coal and facilitating long-term investment.


Mining capacity expands

The board reviewed progress on the Thar Coal Drying and Briquetting Project in Block-I, designed to reduce coal moisture content from 45% to 18%. With an intake capacity of 30 tonnes and an output of 22 tonnes per hour, the facility is expected to improve coal quality, transportation efficiency and freight economics.

Federal Energy Minister Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari congratulated the provincial government on the project's launch.

Rail link gathers pace

The Rs90.3 billion Thar Rail Connectivity Project, featuring a 105-kilometre railway line connecting Thar's coal mines to New Chhor, has achieved 68% physical progress.

Meanwhile, the process of inviting bids for a nine-kilometre double railway line between Bin Qasim and Port Qasim is under way, while construction of the coal-loading station in Block-II has reached 55% completion. Shah directed the Energy Department to complete the loading station by March 2027.