ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Monday asked the Petroleum Division to take an aggressive appro­ach to recover over Rs449 billion arrears of the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) from various industrial sectors at the earliest.

While testifying before the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum, Director-General Gas Abdul Rasheed Jhokio said that total GIDC payable by various sectors stood at Rs796bn of which Rs347bn had been received by the government.

In a judgment in August 2020, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered that all outstanding dues at the time estimated at Rs458bn should be recovered from these consumer sectors including fertiliser and textiles in 24 monthly installments. But various sectors took to the Sindh and Peshawar High courts and the dues could not be recovered.

Senators questioned how high courts could stay recoveries despite the clear judgment of the apex court. Mr Jhokio, however, explained that consumers did not challenge the apex court decision but succeeded in blocking payment of GIDC on different grounds. He said the total outstanding GIDC now stood at Rs449bn.

After clearance of earlier dues of Rs347bn by all sectors, the remaining amounts payable by fertiliser sector now stood at Rs191bn, Rs82bn by CNG, Rs98bn by industry (including Rs54bn of capital power, Rs21bn of general industry and Rs23bn against textiles) followed by Rs39bn against K-Electric.

Senator Abdul Qadir, who presided over the meeting, deplored Rs449bn recoverable from various sectors had been stalled due to these stay orders. “The Petroleum Division must take the lead to diversify its approach and even engage renowned private professional counsellors to vacate stay orders,” he added.

He pointed out that the fertiliser sector had to pay over Rs200bn on account of GIDC and yet it was getting 18pc of the total gas supply at subsidised rate of $2-3 per unit which should be rationalised based on cost-benefit analysis.

Senator Mohsin Aziz of PTI said these numbers were bogus and exaggerated, adding that the government had assured that unless passed on to the consumers the GIDC would not be recovered. He insisted that to ensure that the consumers are not overcharged, the matter should be investigated thoroughly.

The committee noted with concern that Jandran, Saruna and Jhal Magsi gas fields were discovered some 20-30 years ago but could not be developed so far on the lame premise of viability and law and order problem despite the outflow of precious foreign currency.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2022