In 1972, the government of Pakistan changed its industrial policy by adopting the principle of the mixed economy. Under this policy, the industrial units of ten basic categories were nationalized, namely

1- Iron and steel
2- basic metal
3-heavy engineering
4-heavy electrical
5-the assembly and manufacture of motor vehicles
6-the assembly and manufacture of tractors
7-heavy and basic chemicals
8-petrochemicals
9-cement
10-public utilities (electric generators), electricity transmission and distribution, gas and oil refineries.

Ten industrial Management Boards were set up to run the nationalized industries, Gradually, more and more industries were nationalized. in 1973 the vegetable ghee industry, in 1974 the shipping industry and in 1976 cotton ginning, paddy husking and large flour mills.
nationalization the share of the public sector in industrial investment increased 30 percent. The private sector, which was originally very active, stopped further investments. Private investment in large scale industries fell to one third from 1970-1 to 1976-7. The international market was also reluctant to invest in Pakistan.
After nationalization, the top Management of these industries often went to people with little or no experience in running such large scale enterprises. The out put of certain companies was adversely affected by nationalization. The industrial growth rate dropped from 9.9 percent in the 1960s to 5.3 percent in the 1970s.