PESHAWAR, Jan 3: Over six months of the current financial year have elapsed without the NWFP government receiving anything out of its annual share of net hydel profit from Wapda, sources said.

“Despite repeated reminders and requests from the province, no action has been taken either by the federal authorities concerned or Wapda,” said a source in the provincial cabinet.

In accordance with the current financial year’s budgetary projections indicated by the NWFP government, the province is supposed to get over Rs14bn as its share for the 2001-02 financial year under the net hydel profit recorded by the Tarbela Dam project.

However, it has received nothing in the first half of the year.

The unannounced moratorium introduced by the Wapda on payment of net hydel profit has left the province to undergo a serious financial crisis.

At the close of the first half of the 2001-02 financial year, the province recorded a shortfall of Rs7.2bn only under one head if the annual net hydel profit is calculated at Rs14.328bn — to which the provincial government has laid claim in its budget document for the 2001-02 financial year.

Even if the net hydel profit share is calculated at Rs6bn — the capped share amount the province is receiving for the last several years — the shortfall at the end of the first six months stood at Rs3bn.

Peshawar’s inability to effectively raise the non-payment issue with the federal finance minister have put a strain on the provincial finances, causing serious distortions in the fiscal plan the provincial government had chalked out for the 2001-02 financial year.

Massive shortfall under the net hydel profit head turned the over Rs44bn revenue receipts budget upside down as the provincial government is finding it difficult to convince the federal government and Wapda on resuming payments to the province.

Official sources said that non-payment of net hydel profit has left the provincial authorities in a difficult position, already faced with a gigantic task of arranging multi-billion-rupee funds for meeting the escala-ting administrative cost, a result of the local government system.