[Huligar]

The government has released an amount of Rs 297.24 million to the Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) for the development of marble and granite sector in the country, sources said. The allocation is out of the total amount of Rs 500 million reserved for the year 2007-08 in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the development of marble and granite sector, sources said, adding the amount consisted of the setting up of two machinery pools, one model quarry, upgradation of three quarries, a common facility training centre and a warehouse for the dimensional stone, sources said.

The project of developing the marble and granite sector has high potential of earning foreign exchange through its export and the government has approved Rs 1,980 million for this purpose and plans to spend this amount on the project within three years, sources added. The PASDEC has been assigned to implement measures for the development of sector and it has recently awarded a tender to a local agent of Daewoo Company for the import of earthmoving machinery from Korea.

It has also awarded another tender to an Italian machinery manufacturing company, Dazzini for the supply of machinery for the quarry, which would be used in the first marble and granite model quarry in Khuzdar in Balochistan, sources added.