Senate passes GIDC Bill

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Wednesday passed Gas Infrastructure Development Cess Bill, 2015 amid a protest from some opposition members.

Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in his winding up speech said National Assembly has already passed the Bill and said the government requires Rs. 1000 billion annually to maintain and improve gas infrastructure in the country.

He said that Rs 100 billion would be collated annually through this levy and it would be used for gas infrastructure and added that no province is self-sufficient in gas.

He said that the production of gas is 4 BCFD and demand is 8 BCFD, adding that it is very necessary to fund some important projects.

He said that TAPI is a Rs 1 trillion project but our share is of Rs 100 billion. The Minister said that the collection amount of GIDC would not be misused and the parliament would oversee it.

Shahid Khaqan said that the CCI itself says that the GIDC does not come into its domain and federal government should settle it. He said that Supreme Court has already decided that it is not a tax but a cess.

Defending further the Cess Bill, he argued that to bridge the widening gas supply gap, a number of gas import projects were being perused including the Iran-Pakistan (IP) pipeline project, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project, LNG import projects and LPG supply enhancement project, in public as well as private sectors.

He said that in case the required infrastructure was not developed for the above mentioned projects, the government would be forced to import liquefied fuels which are much costlier as compared to gas.

Further, Pakistan would also be exposed to payment of liquidated damages or payments. According to him, presently, neither the federal government nor any gas utility has adequate funding to implement the above project.

To create the required infrastructure it was therefore, necessary that a new Cess may be imposed.

He also accepted the idea of some opposition Senators for forming a committee to point out anomalies in the bill which would prepare its recommendations to make the Bill more beneficial.

Moreover, he said it would be the present government which has planned to provide gas to every district of the Balochistan.

Earlier, during discussion, members of opposition parties criticized the government for presenting the Bill in the House and urged that it should be presented in Council of Common Interest (CCI) for consultation with the provinces before its passage. Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of MQM said that the the Bill should have been presented in the CCI.

He said any tax on natural resources cannot be imposed without consultation of provinces," he claimed. Senator Nauman Wazir and Sentor Saleem Mandviwala called for need to find a mechansim of gas infrstructure development and suggested that concerns of opposition should also be addressed. Opposition Leader Aitezaz Ahsan and Senators including Usman Saifullah, Mohsin Aziz, Shahi Syed, Saeed Ghani, Usman Kakar, Sassi Paleejo, Robina Adnan, Naseema Ehsan and Mohsin Leghari registered their comments on the Bill during discussion. Later, opposition members belonging from Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Awami National Party (ANP) and Balochistan National Awami Party staged a token walk out from the House.