Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd announced on Thursday that Lahore High Court has approved the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) filed by the company. As a result, an order passed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last month to stop construction work at a new 7300tpd line, has been set aside.

However, the company has been ordered by the court to maintain status-quo until a report delineating positive and negative areas for cement plants is issued by the Punjab Government. The report is expected to be released in mid-January and the EPA has been asked to consider that the company’s EIA has already been passed when it issues orders regarding the report in the coming weeks.

The construction of the new line is expected to increase the capacity of Maple Leaf’s Iskanderabad plant to 18,000tpd and represents an investment of approximately PKR23bn (US$207.7m). A letter of credit has been issued through the National Bank of Pakistan for the supply of equipment and engineering by FLSmidth, amounting to PKR9.5bn. Shipments relating to the line construction started arriving in October 2017 and the work is now expected follow the planned installation schedule.

Furthermore, a contract for civil construction and mechanical erection work was awarded to Descon Engineering Ltd.