ECC approves industrial gas tariff hike, spares domestic users

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved upward revision in gas tariff for captive power plants, according to a press release issued Saturday.

However, the committee did not agree to increase the tariff for domestic consumers with a view to protecting the domestic consumers from additional burden.

The gas tariff for industry was increased from Rs3000 per mmbtu to Rs3500 per mmbtu to ensure required revenue for the gas sector during FY 2024-25.

The committee met under the chair of Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb.

The summary for an upward revision of the indigenous gas tariff for industry (captive power) as well as non-protected domestic slabs was submitted by the Petroleum Division.

The ECC instructed the Petroleum Division to take necessary measures for the imposition of a grid transition levy on the captive power plants to enhance the energy sector efficiency.

Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik, Minister for Power Awais Leghari, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Parvez Malik, the chairman OGRA, the chairman SECP, federal secretaries, and senior officers from the relevant divisions also attended the meeting.

Earlier, on Friday, a report by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) revealed that Pakistan’s short-term inflation dropped by 0.77 per cent compared to the previous week but rose by 0.52 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Out of the 51 essential items monitored, the prices of 14 items (27.45 per cent) went up, 12 items (23.53 per cent) decreased, while the prices of 25 items (49.02 per cent) remained stable during the week.

Significant price increases were observed in sugar (up 2.93 per cent), bananas (up 2.70 per cent), garlic (up 0.60 per cent), broken Basmati rice (up 0.47 per cent), 1 kg of vegetable ghee (up 0.33 per cent), moong pulse (up 0.25 per cent), cooked daal (up 0.21 per cent), IRRI-6/9 rice (up 0.15 per cent), and firewood (up 0.13 per cent).

On the other hand, major price drops were noted for tomatoes (down 32.99 per cent), eggs (down 10.23 per cent), onions (down 9.79 per cent), potatoes (down 7.37 per cent), LPG (down 2.70 per cent), gram pulse (down 1.61 per cent), chicken (down 1.00 per cent), mash pulse (down 0.76 per cent), and gur (down 0.50 per cent).