It is top priority of the govt to provide uninterrupted gas supply to domestic sector and different hurdles like low pressure are also being resolved quickly. Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi informed the National Assembly on Wednesday during the question hour that domestic consumers are being accorded top priority in gas supply.
He said that low gas pressure may occur due to some technical problems which are timely resolved through round the clock customers' services and field teams. "The government is making efforts to stop theft of gas and enhance recoveries," he said, adding that 91.2 percent losses in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are in law and order affected areas. Answering a supplementary question by Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the minister said there is no hurdle in provision of gas for any project or scheme in Balochistan.
He said the government is giving connection on merit. He said under Sui Northern Gas Pipeline, domestic gas connections are being given to those who had applied in third quarter of 2012 and in some areas to the applicants of 2013. The minister said the price of LNG will be made public after the signing of contract for the import of the commodity from Qatar. He said so far no contract has been made for this purpose.
To another question, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmad informed the House that the proposed Peshawar-Kabul Motorway is designed for four lanes. He said the major portion of the proposed 265 kilometres motorway is in Afghanistan. Pakistan government has contacted Afghan government to sign their experts for preparing a feasibility study of the project but so far the Afghan government did not send their experts, he said.
He said whole expenditure of the project will be borne by Pakistan. The Lower House was also informed that taxes on prices of per liter petrol and diesel effective August 1, 2015 are: General Sales Tax on petrol is Rs 12.79 per liter and Rs 22.74 per liter on diesel; petroleum levy on petrol is Rs 9.78 per liter and Rs 7.03 per liter; and custom duty on petrol is Rs 0.91 per liter and Rs 4.53 per liter on diesel.
Under Article 78 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, all revenues received by the Federal Government form part of the Federal Consolidated Fund. The receipts from Petroleum Levy, therefore, also become a part of the Federal Consolidated Fund, from where all expenditures of the government are authorised by the Parliament/Finance Division. The amount of gas infrastructure collected from power sector as of the date is Rs 31.96 billion for fiscal year 2013-14 and Rs 25.89 billion for fiscal year 2014-15, the minister informed the house.
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