Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate Units Shut Down as Power Outages and Gas Cuts Bite
Multiple production units at the Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate in Swabi have shut down as industrialists cite chronic PESCO power outages, gas load shedding, and high transportation costs. The president of the Swabi Chamber of Commerce says his own steel mill has been idle for eighteen months and he may relocate operations abroad if conditions do not improve.
Several production units at the Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate (GAIE) in Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have already closed while surviving businesses battle to stay afloat, with industrialists pointing to prolonged electricity outages, gas load shedding, and steep transportation costs as the primary drivers of the zone's accelerating decline. Entrepreneurs told Dawn on Friday that without urgent government intervention and fresh investment, the estate's future looks bleak.
Power and Gas Shortages at the Heart of the Crisis
GAIE falls within the service territory of PESCO (Peshawar Electric Supply Company), one of Pakistan's most financially stressed distribution companies and historically among the worst performers on unplanned outage hours. Industrialists say power cuts at the estate are prolonged and unpredictable, making it impossible to run energy-intensive operations on any dependable schedule.
Gas load shedding compounds the problem. Factories that rely on natural gas for process heat or captive power generation find themselves doubly squeezed — no grid electricity and no gas fallback. The combination drives up reliance on expensive diesel generators, eroding margins that are already thin because of high input and freight costs.
Location Adds a Structural Cost Burden
Sitting in a mountainous belt of Swabi district, GAIE is geographically remote from Pakistan's main commercial arteries. Industrialists say hauling raw materials from Karachi Port to the estate and then distributing finished goods to major urban markets — Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Islamabad — adds a significant freight premium that factories in Punjab or Karachi simply do not face.
Fazal Rahim Jadoon, president of the Swabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a substantial investor in the estate, told Dawn he would not rule out relocating his operations elsewhere in Pakistan or abroad if a better opportunity presented itself. He said his steel mill has been closed for the last one and a half years due to the severity of operational challenges. Other entrepreneurs echoed the same sentiment, saying their primary concern now is protecting their capital rather than expanding it.
A Social Development Project That Lost Its Way
The GAIE was established in 1988 under the government of Benazir Bhutto following violent clashes between poppy cultivators and law enforcement agencies in the Gadoon Amazai region, in which eight farmers were killed while resisting the destruction of their crops. The industrial estate was conceived as an alternative livelihood programme — a way to draw former opium growers into legitimate manufacturing and reduce the area's dependence on illicit agriculture.
Industrialists say that social mission has gradually eroded. The government, they argue, failed to back the estate with sustained infrastructure investment — reliable power, gas supply, road connectivity — that would have made it genuinely competitive. What began as a peace-and-development initiative now risks becoming an example of how inadequate utility services can hollow out an entire industrial zone.
- Prolonged unplanned electricity outages (PESCO network)
- Gas load shedding cutting off process heat and captive generation
- High freight costs from Karachi Port and to major cities
- Multiple production units already permanently shut
- Steel mill of Chamber president idle for 18 months
Frequently Asked
Questions about this story
Which electricity distribution company supplies power to the Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate?
GAIE falls under PESCO (Peshawar Electric Supply Company), which supplies power across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. PESCO is one of Pakistan's most financially distressed DISCOs and has a longstanding record of high unplanned outage hours, which industrialists at GAIE say is a core reason for the estate's decline.Why has the Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate been struggling for so long?
Industrialists cite a combination of prolonged electricity outages, gas load shedding, and high freight costs for moving raw materials from Karachi Port and distributing finished goods to major cities. The remote mountainous location adds a structural cost disadvantage that factories in Punjab or Karachi do not face.How long has Fazal Rahim Jadoon's steel mill been closed at the estate?
Fazal Rahim Jadoon, president of the Swabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Dawn that his steel mill at GAIE has remained closed for the last one and a half years — roughly since early 2025 — due to the severity of operational and utility challenges.Why was the Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate originally set up?
The estate was established in 1988 under the Benazir Bhutto government as an alternative livelihood programme for former poppy farmers in the Gadoon Amazai mountainous region. It followed violent clashes in which eight farmers were killed while resisting the destruction of opium crops.What does the GAIE crisis mean for industrial electricity consumers in KPK?
It signals that unreliable PESCO power supply is making formal manufacturing unviable in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Businesses forced onto diesel generators typically pay Rs. 15–25 per kWh above the grid tariff, a cost that pushes many operations into loss — and ultimately results in factory closures and job losses in the province.
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