QUETTA, Aug 21: The Balochistan government has reduced royalty on coal from Rs100 to Rs60 per ton and decided to review royalty and taxes on various minerals for the development of resources of the province.

A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the provincial cabinet held here on Monday with Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf in the chair.

The cabinet allowed the Livestock Department to submit its proposals in The Balochistan Assembly relating to taxes on wool and animal hides and directed that steps to empower district governments to collect the taxes be studied.

The cabinet approved the draft of the Balochistan Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (BPPRA) bill which would be moved in the assembly.

The meeting discussed in detail the issue of royalty on coal and other minerals and approved the reduction in royalty on coal and asked the mineral department to prepare recommendation for reducing royalty on other minerals.

The cabinet also discussed the proposed privatisation of Pakistan Petroleum and agreed that in case it was privatised, the Balochistan government which held 50 per cent shares of the Balochistan Mining Enterprisers, a subsidiary of the PPL would continue its partnership with new owners instead of purchasing its remaining 50 per cent shares in, the larger interest of the province.

The meeting set up the GP fund management board headed by provincial chief secretary to make arrangements for investing the GP fund of government employees for better financial benefits.

A proposal of the fisheries department regarding allotment of 15 acres of land for fish farming in coastal areas was also discussed.

The meeting also directed the Board of Revenue, Balochistan, to formulate a policy for giving land ownership rights to the poor and peasants and submit it to the cabinet.

The cabinet also accepted in principle a report submitted by provincial Minister for Information Syed Matiullah Agha on advertisements for the newspapers and improvement in the performance of public relations department. The meeting was informed that the chief minister would give a final approval of the report after studying it in detail.

The meeting also decided that the family of a government employee would get Rs350,000 on his death during service.