F.P. Report
KARACHI: Bestway Cement Limited, Pakistan’s 2nd largest cement manufacturer achieved another milestone. The Company commenced production and dispatches of cement at its brownfield Hattar Plant.
A simple ceremony was held at the plant premises to celebrate the occasion which was attended by the Chairman, Bestway Group, Sir Mohammed Anwar Pervez OBE HPk, the Group’s CEO, Lord Zameer M. Choudrey CBE SI Pk, Bestway’s senior officials and delegates from the plant suppliers, Sinoma.
Sir Mohammad Anwar Pervez OBE HPk unveiled the commemorative plaque to mark the commencement of cement production at Line II of Hattar plant.
Speaking on the occasion, Bestway Group’s CEO, Lord Choudrey, said “Hattar plant is Bestway’s home. This is where our incredible journey in cement business started 28 years ago. I’m absolutely delighted that we have put our second state-of-the-art and most environmentally friendly brownfield production line at Hattar into production in a record time of 15 months despite various hurdles and supply chain disruptions caused by Covid and the overall economic challenges being faced by the country.
The plant also has its own Waste Heat Recovery Power Plant of 9 MWs. Bestway’s production capacity has grown from 1 million tonnes per annum in 1998 to more than 15 million tonnes, which speaks volumes of its progress. I congratulate the entire Bestway team as this remarkable success would not have been possible without their hardwork and commitment to excellence, especially our senior team most of whom have been with the Company since our journey began”.
He went on to reiterate Bestway Group’s unrelenting commitment towards economic and social development of Pakistan and highlighted that Bestway Cement was one of the largest taxpayers in the country having contributed more than Rs. 245 billion to the exchequer in direct and indirect taxes since its inception. He noted that Company was providing direct employment to nearly 5,000 families and generated indirect employment for another almost 50,000 families.
Shedding light on Bestway’s CSR activities, he informed the audience that Bestway was one of the top ten CSR spenders in Pakistan. The Group’s charitable arm, Bestway Foundation, had spent more than Rs. 1 billion in just last 3 years on various social causes, particularly education. In addition to providing substantial financial assistance to some of the best educational and health care institutions around the country, the Foundation is running two schools in Chakwal and Farooqia and a girls’ college where free and quality education is provided free of cost; work on two more schools has already started and very soon another two schools will be constructed in Hattar and Mianwali. The Bestway also runs free medical centres at all of its production facilities which provide free basic healthcare facilities to more than 20,000 patients annually.
