ISLAMABAD: The federal government has proposed Rs54 billion for the seven merged tribal districts and six ex-frontier regions (FRs)for the next financial year in the federal budget 2021-22 announced on Friday.

As per the budget documents presented before the National Assembly, the federal government announced that it has increased allocations for the next financial year to Rs54 billion for the merged districts.

This includes Rs30 billion for the "Ten Year Development Plan" against the original Rs100 billion, promised with the formerly Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the six FRs prior to their merger with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Furthermore, the government has also proposed withdrawal of Federal Excise Duty (FED) on industries in the ex-Fata and formerly Provincial Administered Tribal Areas (PATA).

Through Finance Act 2019, FED was imposed on cooking oil, ghee and steel products to provide a level playing field to the industries located in tariff areas; however, this scheme has been agitated by industries of FATA/PATA.

Accordingly, federal excise in value added tax (VAT) mode on these sectors is being withdrawn, the budget document stated.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021