April 09, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 2, 1429

ISLAMABAD, April 8: The government has approved a package of tax relief for 11 projects that will generate 2,500 megawatts by December 2009 in order to meet rising energy demand.

Under the package, customs duty has been reduced to five per cent from 20 per cent on import of cooling towers, heat recovery steam generators and feed water pumps as a one-time relaxation.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) presided over by Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday.

An official in the ministry of water and power told Dawn that half of the projects would be operational by the end of the current year and the remaining would come into operation by December 2009.

He said the projects included the Orient, Atlas, Muridke, Fauji, Saif, Nishad, Halmore and Angro power units.

The official said the projects had achieved or were likely to achieve financial close by April 30 and they were in an advanced stage of commissioning.

The ECC also approved giving exemption from income tax to projects of independent power producers (IPPs) by amending the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

The amendment reads as: “Provided further that exemption under this clause shall also be available to the expansion projects of existing independent power projects already in operation.”

WHEAT: The ECC approved the increase in the guaranteed minimum price of wheat from Rs510 to Rs625 per 40kg as announced by the prime minister. It decided that the provinces should immediately adjust the release price of wheat.

The premier directed the provincial governments and Passco to ensure maximum procurement of wheat at the announced price.

The decision regarding import of wheat will be made in the light of post-harvest estimates.

The ECC decided that programmes would be formulated to provide relief to the poor and vulnerable groups of the society. Proposals in this regard will be presented to the cabinet.

Anti-smuggling measures will be beefed up along both the western and eastern borders of the country.

The ECC decided that 100 per cent grinding of wheat released to the flour mills by the provincial governments should be ensured.