Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Thursday launched the province’s first Pink Salt Value Addition Financing Scheme and distributed cheques among 10 businesspersons who secured interest-free loans under the initiative.The chief minister interacted with the beneficiaries and inquired about their value-added pink salt products, stressing the need to introduce such products to international markets under the Pakistani brand.According to a briefing by Provincial Mines and Minerals Minister Sher Ali Gorchani and Secretary Minerals Parvez Butt, the scheme carries an allocation of Rs5 billion in interest-free loans, with individual businesses eligible for financing of up to Rs50 million. The Punjab government will bear Rs1.456bn in interest costs under the scheme.A 110-acre Pink Salt Processing Unit in Quaidabad has been established as a specialised industrial cluster. The Pink Salt Mineral Processing Zone in Quaidabad is planned to house 200 value-addition units and create employment opportunities for more than 10,000 people, while also contributing to an increase in exports.A model retail outlet has also been established to promote pink salt branding, packaging, marketing and processing. Officials said value addition, branding and development of pink salt products could help increase annual exports by up to $300 million.The chief minister said Pakistan should export branded pink salt rather than merely supplying the international market with raw material.“Pink salt is Pakistan’s uniqueness,” she said, adding that the country’s salt and labour were being used while other countries reaped the benefits.She said pink salt was a national mineral asset and urged the development of value-added products for international markets. The government, she added, would support young entrepreneurs and startups under the financing scheme and facilitate their access to global markets.“Pakistan’s pink salt is like gold hidden in the mountains,” she said.The chief minister said that in the past, contracts had allegedly been awarded to benefit political individuals, causing losses to the national exchequer. She said the resources of Punjab, including what she described as the “placer gold” flowing through its five rivers, should benefit the people of the province.The businesspersons who received the loans thanked the chief minister and termed the financing scheme a significant initiative of the Punjab government.
