ISLAMABAD, Feb 22: Three days after change of guard, Finance Minister Saleem H. Mandviwalla-led Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Friday partially overturned three major decisions taken by the same body when it was headed by Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

Presiding over the first meeting of the ECC after becoming federal minister for finance on Feb 19, Senator Mandviwalla allowed import of more than 545,400 CNG cylinders, upgraded by one-notch textile sector’s captive power plants (CPPs) on the priority list for gas supplies and granted a 15 paisa per unit transportation cost on every litre of petrol to be produced by Byco Refinery.

Former finance minister Dr Shaikh, as ECC chairman, had banned import of CNG cylinders and spare parts in Dec 2011 to discourage growing gas consumption in transport sector. In January this year, Dr Shaikh had approved a gas load management policy under which cement and CPPs were kept at fourth position on the priority list after domestic and commercial, power, industry and fertiliser sectors.

Likewise, the previous ECC had rejected extension of tax holidays for 20 years and crude transportation cost to Byco, also rejected twice by the petroleum ministry. Subsequently, Dr Shaikh had agreed to grant crude transportation cost to Byco for only one year.

CNG KIT IMPORT: “On a summary moved by the ministry of petroleum and natural resources, the ECC decided to allow import of cylinders/kits for which L/C has been opened or bank contract (as per State Bank regulations) has been concluded before Dec 31, 2012.

The ECC allowed import of parts/components of CNG conversion kits to develop export-oriented business of the kits, said an official statement issued on Friday after the ECC meeting.

According to official record, about 18,000 CNG cylinders and some parts worth about Rs500 million will be qualified to be imported. About 3.5 million CNG vehicles are already plying on the roads in the country, most of them standing in long queues to secure cheap fuel, supply of which has been hampered by over two months of complete closures in some parts and three-day weekly closures in summer.

BYCO REFINERY: On a summary moved by the ministry, the ECC approved Byco’s request for reimbursement of operational cost of single point mooring through inland freight equalisation margin (IFEM) as per Parco rates.