Sindh government allots 52,000 acres for corporate farming, Geo reports

The interim Sindh government has alloted 52,000 acres of state land for corporate cultural farming, disclose official documents.

As per a report filed by Geo’s Benazir Shah and Rasheed Memon, the caretaker government of Sindh gave ultimate approval last week to allot 52,713 acres of state land for the project, out of which 28,000 acres will be rendered in Khairpur, 10,000 in Mithi, 9,305 in Dadu, 3,408 in Sujawal, 1,000 acres in Thatta, and 1,000 in Badin.

The land is being allotted under the authority of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). SIFC is a top military body that was established in June this year to attract foreign investment in the country.

According to state documents seen by Geo.tv, earlier this year, the chief secretary of Sindh issued a directive to the provincial Land Utilisation Department and the Board of Revenue to explain the availability of land in the province.

The documents even recommend that the land be leased out to the Pakistani army, insisting that the latter had “well-trained manpower” for the job.

The minutes of a cabinet meeting in Sindh on December 1st imply that the interim government in Sindh is considering leasing state-owned land to a private company affiliated with the Pakistan military.

The agenda read: “…approval of a joint venture agreement for the corporate agro-farming initiative in Sindh between the Land Utilization Department and Green Corporate Initiative Pvt Ltd”.