By Omer Bilal ISLAMABAD, Feb 15 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan has a huge market for electronics and refrigeration products as well as massive corporate consumers of fluorocarbon which is a derivative of methane, ethene and propane. Pakistan imports fluorocarbon from the Middle East to meet the requirement of its domestic and commercial market. It makes adverse impact on the country’s balance of payments. According to data provided by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), import of natural gas, including fluorocarbon, is Rs36.156 billion. The United Arab Emirates-based fluorocarbon company Brother Gas has decided to invest $15 million in Pakistan in first phase to set up an industrial gas plant in M3 Industrial Area in Faisalabad, Punjab province, which is the largest industrial estate of Pakistan. In this regard, officials from both sides have agreed to build the mega project in three phases. The first phase will start with the initial investment of $15 million after which more capital will be put in the project. Brothers Gas is one of the leading oil and gas companies in Dubai, which has a large portfolio in the field of liquified petroleum gas (LPG), industrial gases, and refrigerants gases. To pursue the process, Secretary Board of Investment (BoI) Fareena Mazhar recently met with Kashif Maqsood, Managing Director of Brothers Gas, one of the leading oil and gas companies in Dubai. Maqsood confirmed their plan to set up a bottling plant at Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Faisalabad in phases. The BoI secretary termed the investment a major breakthrough for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in Pakistan and reducing imports. It will fulfil the intense need of domestic production units. Multinational companies are also in contact with the BoI in connection to distribution process. It will directly impact the prices of items using fluorocarbon. The Faisalabad plant will serve the local market and facilitate exports to neighbouring markets from Pakistan. It will include industrial gases with more than 1,000 products. Brothers Gas will install an Aerosol Propellant Gas “APG” plant which will be manufacturing APG within Pakistan instead of importing it. The project will also lead to introduction of refrigerant gases and ADNOC lubes for the first time in Pakistan. The BOI official told WealthPK that the process of land acquisition in M3 Industrial area in Faisalabad has been started, while more visits from both sides are expected in coming days. She noted that Special Economic Zones Management Information System (SEZMIS) portal has been launched with the collaboration of BoI. The head of the board of directors of a private company told WealthPK that investment in the plant should be done in time as Pakistan has the only option to import fluorocarbon. He said Pakistan even doesn’t have technology for the separation of the liquefied gases. He said air conditioning industries, chemicals, domestic refrigeration, industrial refrigeration, vehicles and transport industry all need fluorocarbon gases.