Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Sunday urged the government to explore new gas reserves and expedite work on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and complete it as early as possible to run the local industry as Pakistan can not afford two months' suspension of gas in the winter season.
In a statement issued, here on Friday, MCCI president, Anis A. Sheikh said that the Iranian government has already completed its part of the project and if Pakistani authorities show some interest, the pipeline could be completed much earlier than the stipulated period. He stressed that the severest-ever shortage of gas in the country calls for extraordinary measures on war footing and the people sitting at the helm of affairs should gear up their efforts for the early completion of the project.
According to the project proposal, the pipeline will begin from Iran's Assalouyeh Energy Zone in the south and stretch over 1,100 km through Iran. In Pakistan, it will pass through Balochistan and Sindh but officials now say the route may be changed if China agrees to the project. The gas will be supplied from the South Par field. The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 22 billion cubic metres of natural gas per annum, which is expected to be later rose to 55 billion cubic meters. The project is expected to cost $7.4 billion.
Sheikh said, "Multan chamber has credible reports that the work on this multi-million dollar project is stalled for unknown reasons. It is unable to understand the causes of the delay in this highly beneficial project of national importance when the gas pricing formula has already agreed to in 2009 and Tehran and Islamabad have inked a final agreement to launch the project by spring 2014." He said that the government should take the business community in general and MCCI in particular on-board, as the gas shortage in Punjab is severest, while there is no shortage in other provinces. This way, industrialists who are planning to shift their operations to other countries could be asked to shelve their plans.
He observed that there is huge number of industries where the gas is basic raw material and due to its acute shortage there would be no work in these units while the graph of unemployment would go up further. He further said that if the federal government takes the private sector on-board on this mega project, it would not be adding any cost to it but definitely ensure its early completion.
MCCI president pointed out that the reports about suspension of work on the IPP project has sent a very wrong signal to the private sector that needs to be corrected by restarting the work project so that the sector could be able to do their businesses with peace of mind.
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