Coal miners under-report output to evade sales tax

Pakistan's average daily production of crude oil declined from 27,822 barrel per day (bpd) during financial year 03 to around 18,000 bpd during FY04.
The decline in crude oil, according to the SBP report, was largely due to depleting of reserves of British Petroleum Pakistan (BP Pakistan).
On the other hand, the major factor behind the decline in coal production is alleged to be under-reporting by the private mining companies, in order to avoid 15 percent sales tax.
Finally, a moderate growth of 1.6 percent in the output of refineries, coupled with the decline in the import of POL production during July-March 2003-04, reflects a decline in consumption due to increasing substitution with cheaper fuel (mostly coal and natural gas). This is particularly reflected in larger gas production and rising import of coal.
The report, however, said that the overall performance of infrastructure industries remained buoyant during July-March of 2003-04. The composite index of seven infrastructure industries recorded an increase of 6.8 percent during July-March of 2003-04 compared to 5 percent in the same period of previous year.
Growth in the production of natural gas, electricity and petroleum products accelerated during July-March 2003-04 while growth in cement and steel production witnessed deceleration.