ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet considered and approved the summary moved by the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions for the provision of 50,000 metric tons of wheat costing Rs.2.007 billion to the United Nations World Food Program for the temporarily displaced people (TDPs) of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar chaired the ECC meeting held at the Prime Minister’s office on Monday.
The ECC meeting decided that the approved quantity of the wheat will be distributed among the targeted population of TDPs from December 2016 to June 2017. It is worth mentioning that the quantity is the second such approval after the provision of 124,000 metric tons of wheat costing Rs. 4.977 billion to the displaced population; the stocks from the earlier grant will be exhausted in November as reported by the World Food Program.
After detailed briefing by the Ministry of Water and Power, the ECC also approved issuance of second revised government of Pakistan Sovereign Guarantees up to Rs. 30612.60 million for the 425 MW Nandipur power project. These guarantees will remain valid till May 31, 2017.
In view of the growing needs of the country for energy, ECC considered and approved the proposal sent by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, for the setting up of the LPG Air Mix Plants at Murree (Kurbagla, Dewal, Company Bagh and Tret), Awaran and Bella at an estimated cost of Rs. 1353.29 million to be funded by the respective Gas Utility Companies (SSGCL and SNGPL) through their own resources. For the housing colonies the private sector is free to establish their own LPG Air Mix plants subject to the fulfillment of all codal formalities such as OGRA licensing, explosive licenses etc. it was also decided that in addition to the above mentioned plants 30 new Air mix plants each on SSGCL and SNGPL system will be constructed in the areas of AJK, Chitral, Gilgit-Baltistan and backward areas of Balochistan as the development of these areas is the first priority of the government. The setting up of the LPG Air Mix Plants will save these areas from the rapid deforestation in these areas.
ECC also approved and ordered the notification of the Price Negotiation Committee (PNC) for the LNG supplies from Malaysia, Russia, France, Italy, Oman and Azerbaijan in the wake of the growing demand of energy in the country. The ECC also decided that the PNC will engage with all the energy supplying companies in the process to finalize the best deal for the country.
ECC also approved the proposal by Ministry of Water and Power for utilization of power generated through captive power plants, as a short term measure, in order to optimize use of available generation in the coming summers of 2017 and 2018. The measure taken by the Ministry will add around 300-600MW to the National grid on the following conditions:
Plants having capacity of 03 MW or above on gas, furnace oil, coal, biogases and other fuels/sources will be offered energy purchase under this policy.
Tariff shall be based on take and pay basis and electricity actually delivered to the national grid. These plants shall not be entitled for any capacity charges/payments.
