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The government is to deregulate prices of compressed natural gas (CNG) countrywide and in this connection a proposal has been sent to all stakeholders for their input, Secretary Ministry of Petroleum Arshad Mirza has said. Talking to Business Recorder here on Friday after a meeting of the Senate Special Committee on Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC), Mirza said that the government is considering deregulating CNG prices, for which consultations with the different stakeholders are under way.
He said that after getting their input, the ministry will prepare a summary in this regard and submit it with the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) for its final approval. Earlier, in the committee meeting, Chairperson Oil and gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Uzma Adil informed the participants that deregulating the CNG prices is the best option to end GIDC like conflicts on permanent basis. She said that the authority is supporting the idea and has proposed the government to do so.
The Senate Special Committee on Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) and the Ministry of Finance failed to resolve the issue of outstanding amount against the various sectors.
Secretary Ministry of Finance Dr Waqar Masood said that as per law all those segments which collected GIDC from end consumers are liable to deposit it to national kitty and the government can't waive it off. However, he added that the ministry wants to resolve the issue as per the recommendations of the committee and has offered the CNG association to pay Rs 13 billion, but the CNG association has not agreed to it.
The meeting chaired by Senator Ilyas Bilour, was informed by the ministry of petroleum and ministry of finance officials that a total of Rs 100 billion on account of GIDC was outstanding against the various sectors, including Captive Power Plants (CPPs), compressed natural gas (CNG) stations, general industry and others.
Minister for Petroleum, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi briefing the participants said that an amount of Rs 51 billion was outstanding against CNG sector of which the sector has paid Rs 19 billion, while Rs 32 billion is still outstanding.
Abbasi said that during the first round of talks, the CNG station owners offered the government of paying Rs 9 billion, while the government asked them to pay Rs 16 billion out of Rs 32 billion, but no agreement was reached. He added that in the second round of talks, the CNG association offered the government of paying Rs 10 billion, while the government asked them to pay Rs 13billion.
Abbasi said that at present, the CNG stations in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Balochistan are collecting GIDC from the end consumers, but many of them are not depositing the amount in the national kitty. The minister said that the government is laying gas related infrastructure worth Rs 150 billion saying that in past 15 years, no infrastructure was developed in the country.
The meeting was informed that over 450 textile mills in Faisalabad are not operating due to energy crisis or other reasons as a result of which thousands of people have lost their jobs. Briefing the committee, Additional Secretary Ministry of Finance, Noor Ahmed said that new fertilizer plants are collecting the GIDC but are not depositing it in the national kitty.
The petroleum minister said that the government has not waived off the outstanding amount of any segment of the economy. He said the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority included GIDC in the price of compressed natural gas (CNG) and all CNG outlets have collected it from the end consumers; therefore, the sector must have to pay the amount. The representatives of All Pakistan CNG Association were also invited by the committee to get their viewpoint. They said they are willing to pay the amount as was decided in the second round of talks.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2016

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