- 40 licenses attached to the EX-Armymmen canceled.
- No Army-affiliated bids among 500 new applications.
- Mining licenses rose to 4,917 from 482 since 2010.
PESHAWAR: As political tensions and online demands escalate over alleged military involvement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s mineral sector, official items tell another story.
Government data shows that a total of 4,917 mining licenses have been issued all over the province, with only one assigned to a military -bound unit, Frontier Works Organization (FWO).
This single license, issued in 2015, relates to the Boya area of North Waziristan, a conflict hit region where FWO has been active in reconstruction and development.
A senior security officer revealed that over the past 18 months the Pakistani army facilitated the cancellation of nearly 40 mining licenses detained by retired military staff and their immediate family members in a step aimed at tackling public concerns and strengthening transparency.
This step was to tackle public concerns and counteract negative propaganda. Currently, CP chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur is reviewing more than 500 new mining licensing applications, but the military or any military-affected institution has not submitted any of these.
The security officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that the rightful ownership of mineral resources lies with the population of KP, and provincial politics should reflect this through transparent and justice in license.
However, the discredit of state institutions through baseless propaganda undermines national interest and distracts from real government issues. “
In the current climate, where social media plays a strong role in the design of public perception, it is important to distinguish between verifiable facts and political rhetoric.
According to official data, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s mineral sector has seen significant expansion in the last decade, with 4,917 mineral titles awarded and a stable increase in the annual revenue reaching a record RS7.43 billion in the middle of fiscal policy 2024–2025.
However, experts question whether the province realizes full potential in its mineral wealth.
According to official registrations of the mineral development department (March 2025), KP had only 482 mineral titles in 2010, a number that increased sharply to 1,762 in 2020, and then 3,962 in February 2024.
Currently, 4,917 licenses have been awarded – 4,133 in resident districts and 784 in merged districts, and 125 were issued before the merger.
However, record revealed that revenue was only RS2.17 billion in 2016–2017, RS1.91 billion in 2017-18, RS2.18 billion in 2018-19, RS3.24 billion in 2019-20, RS5.08 billion in 2020-21, RS6,14 million in 2021-22, Mia.
The department’s income gradually grew to RS6.4 billion in 2023–2024 with a remarkable leap to RS7.43 billion in the current financial year, although this still falls short compared to KP’s estimated reserves worth hundreds of billions of rupees.
