HYDERABAD: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has expressed concern over the complete absence of new industrial development in the city amid alarming population growth, warning that the situation posed an existential threat to its economy and social fabric.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Adeel Siddiqui, an Executive Committee member of the FPCCI, noted that while Hyderabad’s population continued to surge, no new industrial zone had been developed beyond the existing SITE area. SITE Hyderabad, established in 1952 over 1,264 acres, is the only industrial zone, with 665 units, of which about 450 are functional.
He said that despite being Sindh’s second-largest industrial zone, Hyderabad SITE had been left to decay, with no effort to expand industrial capacity or develop new areas.
He referred to the shocking state of infrastructure in SITE, where industrialists were navigating potholes and broken roads “like a war zone”, and said roads in Hyderabad and Kotri SITE areas had completely deteriorated as thousands of trucks and containers passed through daily. He added that water supply, drainage and treatment plants were among the issues affecting the 74-year-old industrial area.
He explained that the commercial and real estate value of land in the existing SITE had increased exponentially, and what was once an affordable industrial zone had now become expensive commercial property.
He noted that this had made the establishment of new industries in the old SITE area prohibitively expensive, as industrialists were forced to invest massive capital just to acquire land, leaving little room for investment in machinery, technology and operations.
He said setting up a new industry in the old SITE required an enormous financial burden that simply did not make commercial sense for new investors, discouraging the establishment of new businesses, forcing them to look elsewhere and further accelerating the city’s de-industrialisation.
He wondered why the government continued to neglect the development of new industrial zones when the old SITE had become commercially unviable for new industries. He said without new, affordable industrial zones, Hyderabad would never be able to attract fresh investment or create jobs.
He said that despite the collection of over Rs1.5 trillion in infrastructure cess on imports over five years, industrial areas faced deliberate neglect and demanded that utilisation of these funds be made public. An amount of Rs1.10 billion had been approved for road and drainage works, but progress was invisible.
Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2026
