PESHAWAR, March 7: The NWFP government will take up the issue of non-payment of net hydel profit by Wapda and the National Finance Commission (NFC) related issues confronting the province with Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali, who is scheduled to visit Peshawar on Saturday, according to official sources.
The provincial authorities would apprise the prime minister of the provincial government’s stand viz-a-viz non-payment of the NWFP’s net hydel profit share for the financial year 2002-03 and issues relating to the current and next NFC awards, the sources said.
NWFP has, so far, received a total of Rs1 billion from Wapda against its Rs6 billion capped share of net hydel profit for the financial year 2002-03.
The provincial government’s repeated requests to the power utility remained unattended as Wapda did not resume net hydel profit payment to the province after disbursing Rs1 billion in more than one tranches in December and January, last, according to the sources.
“Non-payment of net hydel profit has left the provincial kitty under tremendous pressure,” said a provincial finance manager.
The Rs6 billion capped share amount of net hydel profit makes well over 15 per cent of the total revenue receipts the province is expecting to raise during the current financial year.
Hence, stoppage of funds under this vital head, said the sources, would certainly lend negative impact to the provincial kitty leaving the provincial government’s budgetary plan for the current financial year up side down — once more in line with the past several years.
Apart from requesting the prime minister for resuming net hydel profit payment, the provincial government would also seek the premier’s help to make Wapda clear arrears accumulated against it due to non-payment of full net hydel profit share amount to NWFP since early 1970s.
The last military backed civil government had laid a claim of Rs298 billion against Wapda in August 2002 on account of arrears of net hydel profit since 1973.
The amount also includes hefty amount of interest the province claimed Wapda should pay to it over and above the actual amount accumulated against the utility on account of net hydel profit since 1973.