Rs 101 billion to be raised from consumers: ECC

The government has decided to collect Rs 101 billion from gas consumers, maybe through another tax, for construction of North-South Gas pipeline and deferred approval of LNG import and its pricing till today (Friday).A meeting of the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar turned sour when a senior official of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority strongly opposed the proposal of charging gas consumers for development of gas pipeline and argued the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) had been imposed for this purpose.The OGRA''s response reportedly angered Finance Minister who wanted an answer to his question:"Where is GIDC collection?"Media reports soon after the meeting quoting sources in OGRA stated the government collected Rs 150 billion from gas consumers through GIDC but it transferred the amount to its own account instead of parking it in the consolidated fund for this purpose.The ECC on a proposal by Ministry of Petroleum regarding financing of a pipeline infrastructure development plan for the upcoming LNG and anticipated indigenous supplies reaffirmed its decision of September, 3 2015 and allowed gas companies to arrange funding from commercial banks backed by government''s sovereign guarantee.Sources said the project would ensure supplies of gas to the 3600MW RLNG based power plants planned to be set up in the country by 2017 On a proposal for issuance of policy guidelines to NEPRA for power tariff rationalization, the ECC meeting chaired by Finance Minister approved a reduction up to Rs 3 per Kwh in existing base tariff for the Industrial consumers of all discos for the year 2015-16, for units consumed from January 1,2016 onwards.On the issue of LNG import, sources further stated that the ECC directed Barrister Zafarullah, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Human Rights and Secretary Law to review and rephrase the proposal of LNG import and bring it to the meetingtoday.The Committee noted and placed on record the report presented by Secretaries Committee concerning LNG sale and purchase agreement.A meeting of the ECC on a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Petroleum on 12th January 2016 had approved in principle the recommendations of the pricing committee to enter into an agreement with Qatar Gas-2. ECC had also allowed PSO, as buyer, to execute the sale and purchase agreement on Government to Government arrangement.The ECC had constituted a committee comprising Secretary Petroleum, Finance, Law and Justice, and chairman OGRA to examine legal and commercial aspects of the proposal. The Committee accordingly prepared and submitted its report.The ECC on a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources gave ex-post facto approval in respect of 6 cargoes arranged byPSO from Qatargas under a Government to Government arrangement on FOB basis on board FSRU as LNG carrier.The Chair on this occasion gave instructions for reconvening ECC meeting on Friday 29th January 2016 to consider important left-over agenda items including provision of salaries to the Pak Steel Mills and supply of wheat to TDPs through the WFP.News SourceNews Collated byPAKISSAN.comCourtesy Business Recorder