June 10, 2006	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1427

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PESHAWAR, June 9: The NWFP government is likely to project its revenue receipts on account of net hydel profit (NHP) for the 2006-07 financial year again at the high side of Rs8 billion, according to official sources.

The move is in line with the practice followed in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 financial years when the government projected annual revenue receipts from the NHP at Rs8 billion and ended up with receiving Rs6 billion.

Though the province is set to experience a Rs2 billion NHP revenue shortfall in the outgoing financial year, the government has again decided to project the share at Rs8 billion for the new fiscal year to continue to press for more funds.

Officials said that the province had made high side projections for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 financial years after being promised by the federal government that the annual capped share amount would be increased by Rs2 billion.

However, the assurance remained unfilled as the Water and Power Development Authority, said the sources, was not ready to pay beyond Rs6 billion to the province. Hence, the fresh move has been made amidst Wapda’s persistent refusal to increase the capped share amount of Rs6 billion, which the province has been getting since 1991-92 financial year in accordance with a decision of the Council of Common Interest.

Article 161-(2) entitles the NWFP to get profit, every year, from the income accrued against the sale proceeds of hydel power produced by Tarbela dam’s power generation unit and other hydel power stations set up in the province.

The provincial government, according to officials, was of the view that by projecting the NHP share at Rs8 billion it would help it reminding the federal government the assurances given by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in the past.

In actual, the province has a claim to get Rs18 billion annually as the NHP share a stand neither accepted by Wapda nor the federal government.

In an attempt to keep its original claim being reflected in the budget documents, the province projects NHP receipts at Rs8 billion as part of its total revenue receipts.

Similarly, an allocation of Rs10 billion is reflected in a separate column as likely share/arrears of NHP.

The same practice, according to the sources, would again be repeated as the annual budget for the new financial year would reflect the over all claim of the province in two columns.

Though Wapda is not ready to heed to the NWFP’s stand, the government appears optimistic about its chances to break the ice during the next financial year.

Officials pinned their hopes to the better bargaining position the provincial government found itself in at present after having filed a ‘strong’ case involving a claim of Rs400 billion NHP arrears against Wapda.

In this regard, a five-member arbitration tribunal, formed under an agreement between Wapda and the NWFP, is busy looking into the province’s claim against the Authority.