04 June 2004	Friday	15 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

ISLAMABAD, June 3: The NWFP is expected to get an enhanced amount of Rs8 billion as net hydel-profit on Tarbela dam as an interim measure subject to adjustment with the final award of the arbitration commission.

Sources in the provincial government told Dawn that the NWFP had been promised about Rs2 billion increase in its hydel profit that had been capped at Rs6 billion.

The increase is expected to be formalized on Friday at a meeting at the President's camp office in Rawalpindi where NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani will also take up with President Musharraf the non-implementation of promises the President had made for the development of Peshawar and natural gas supply at the time of presidential referendum.

The president, said these sources, had already taken up the matter with respective government agencies but his directives were yet to be implemented. The NWFP government has a claim of an accumulated Rs345 billion hydel profit against Wapda.

It says that net hydel profit on account of Tarbela dam comes to about Rs17 billion per annum under the A.G.N Kazi formula but had been politically capped at Rs6 billion.

Wapda on the other hand contends that AGN Kazi formula envisaged on an average less than Rs5 billion per annum to the NWFP as per audited accounts of the Auditor-General of Pakistan Revenue and it had rather paid more than what it was required to.

The military government had de-capped the Rs6 billion amount and had called for re-calculation of the net hydel profit but negotiated settlement could not be reached. Of late, the NWFP had threatened not to sign the National Finance Commission Award unless its dispute on hydel profit with Wapda was settled down to its satisfaction.

This finally forced the federal government and Wapda to constitute arbitration commission comprising five members from Wapda and the NWFP. The names of the members have been finalized but the chairman of the committee is yet to be appointed.

The sources said that while the arbitration commission would take about nine months to give its final award, the federal government, through ministries of water and power and finance, had persuaded Wapda to increase NWFP's share by Rs2 billion with the condition that the NWFP would refund this amount in case it was not maintained by the award.

The sources said this would partly overcome financial problems of the NWFP government which currently finds it difficult to finalise its 2004-05 provincial budget even if an agreement was not reached on distribution of net proceeds of the divisible pool under the sixth national finance commission (NFC).