ISLAMABAD: The centre on Friday agreed to allow the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government a greater say in electricity distribution as a quid pro quo measure for recovery of bills and efforts to control electricity theft.

However, the federal and provincial governments could not resolve their differences over taxes and provincial rights over the use of natural gas produced in KP and decided to take the matter of the uncapped net hydel profits to the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

A meeting, attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Power Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif, from the federal side and KP Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak and PTI MNA Asad Umar, decided to hold a meeting of experts on taxation issues later this month.

The two sides, while agreeing that natural gas was a provincial subject, remained divided on whether the powers for gas allocation still fall under the cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), sources said.

KP wants to set up a 100mmcfd gas power plant but the federal government has made it clear that the project should be routed through the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB).

The two sides also agreed to take the issue of uncapping net hydel profits to KP from the previous Rs6bn to around Rs15bn per year, to the CCI for approval.

The meeting decided to hold another meeting between the provincial government and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) on May 26 to work out the details of power distribution to different parts of the province.

The centre agreed to the proposal, provided the provincial government prioritised distribution on the basis of theft, losses and recovery. It was agreed

that the provincial government would support Pesco with load management and recoveries.

The meeting agreed that the federal government will assist the provincial government with investment in the 13 power projects it identified.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2015

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