ECC restores old gas tariff for tandoors to bring down prices of naan and roti

Published July 31, 2019
The committee directed the provincial governments to restore the rates of naan and roti to the pre-June 30 level. —  Photo courtesy of Marvi Soomro
The committee directed the provincial governments to restore the rates of naan and roti to the pre-June 30 level. — Photo courtesy of Marvi Soomro

A day after Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered to bring down prices of naan and roti to their previous rates throughout the country, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday reverted the gas tariff for non-commercial tandoors to the pre-June 30 level.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Hafeez Shaikh chaired the meeting and approved measures to bring down the prices. The decision was taken on a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Energy to revise gas prices for roti tandoors.

The ECC will provide Rs1.51 billion to subsidise such gas connections.

The committee directed provincial governments to restore the rates of naan and roti to the pre-June 30 level and warned provincial governments that the federal government will withdraw the subsidy if the prices are not restored.

As per the decision, a detailed survey of tandoors across the country will be carried out in order to ensure that the benefit of revision in gas tariff is made applicable to stand-alone tandoors or roadside restaurants catering to the poor and no undue benefit is passed on to the tandoors in hotels or larger restaurants which are to be treated as commercial gas connections.

The ECC also reviewed a report on the price of wheat. According to the report, the price has been reduced by Rs50-60 per 40kg after a ban on its export.

It was also decided in the meeting that a session of the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) will be convened on August 8.

The committee also decided to impose an additional duty of 10 per cent on the import of cotton.

Meanwhile, the federal government also reconstituted the ECC to include Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Division Hammad Azhar in it. The federal cabinet had already approved his appointment as a member of the ECC on July 25.

With the latest inclusion, the strength of the committee has become 15.


Additional reporting by Tahir Sherani.

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