ECC Approves Rs. 1.52 Per Unit Surcharge on K-Electric Consumers

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has approved a surcharge of Rs. 1.52 per unit to be recovered from K-Electric Consumers in 12 months.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar chaired the meeting of the ECC of the Federal Cabinet today.

The Ministry of Energy (Power Division) submitted a summary regarding the Quarterly Tariff Adjustments of K-Electric and informed that as per National Electricity Policy 2021, the government may maintain a uniform consumer-end tariff for K-Electric and state-owned distribution companies.

Accordingly, KE’s applicable uniform variable charge is required to be modified to maintain the uniform tariff across the country. The ECC after discussion approved a surcharge of Rs. 1.52 per unit to be recovered from K-Electric consumers in 12 months. The ECC further allowed the release and utilization of the available budget of Rs. 76 billion as payment of arrears under different heads.

Import Policy Order 2022

The Ministry of Commerce submitted a summary regarding the suspension of import conditions contained in Import Policy Order 2022 related to the import of Timber/Wood and briefed the meeting on the concerns of the wood/timber industry.

The ECC after detailed discussion, suspended the relevant import conditions from the date of issuance of IPO 2022 to 31st October 2023 with direction to the Ministry of National Food Security & Research to review the import policy and come up with suggestions to settle this issue.

The ECC also considered and approved another summary of the Ministry of Commerce regarding amendment in a relevant clause in the Import Policy Order 2022 to allow government agencies to import pharmaceutical raw materials.

Circular debt management plan

The ECC considered another summary of the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) regarding the implementation of a revised circular debt management plan and utilization of Rs. 20.726 billion to government owned power plants.

The ECC after discussion authorized Power Division to utilize a one-time full amount out of the assignment account in relaxation of the limit of using Rs. 4 billion per month during June 2023 for the next five months and to ensure that there will be no more payment liability to IPPs for July-November 2023.

The ECC also considered and approved another summary of Power Division regarding the release of Rs. 56 billion as approved under revised CDMP against the AJ&K receivables.

The ECC approved the following Technical Supplementary Grants:

1. Rs. 567.120 million as TSG in favour of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training for its development expenditure.
2. Rs. 40 million as TSG in favour of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training for Cadet College Hassanabdal for need-based scholarships to financially challenged students.
3. Rs. 14.022 million as TSG in favour of the Federal Tax Ombudsman for ERE expenditure.
4. Rs. 19.236 million as TSG in favour of Ministry of Interior for Repair & Maintenance of Helicopter by Pakistan Rangers.
5. Rs. 6.279 million as TSG in favour of the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports.
6. Rs. 150 million as TSG in favour of the Intelligence Bureau to meet its ERE expenditure.
7. Rs. 147.913 million as TSG in favour of Gilgit-Baltistan Council and its departments.
8. Rs. 500 million as TSG in favour of the Ministry of Housing and Works for the execution of development projects.
9. Rs. 470.26 million in favour of the Ministry of Housing and Works for Repair & Maintenance of the Supreme Court of Pakistan building, Islamabad and Judges’ residences, Rest houses & sub-offices in various cities.

Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Chaudhary Tariq Bashir Cheema, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Syed Murtaza Mahmud, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Pasha, Coordinator to the PM on Economy Bilal Azhar Kayani, Coordinator to PM on Commerce & Industry Rana Ihsan Afzal, Federal Secretaries and other senior officers attended the meeting.