Neelum-Jhelum surcharge: Rs8bn collected from consumers, Senate body told

ISLAMABAD: A total of Rs8 billion has been collected in the name of Neelum-Jhelum Surcharge from the consumers through electricity bills even as its period has lapsed on July 4, 2018 as the government wants to utilise this amount for the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam.

It was revealed in a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives which met with Senator Agha Shahzaib Durrani in the chair at the Parliament House on Wednesday.

The Committee discussed Neelum-Jhelum Hydro Power Project and Prime Minister’s Global SDGs Achievement Programme.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Neelum-Jhelum Hydro Power Company (NJHPC) Brigadier Engr Zareen (retired) said, while briefing the Committee, that a total of Rs8 billion had been collected in the name of Neelum-Jhelum Surcharge through electricity bills, while the collection period of surcharge has lapsed on July 4, 2018.

Senator Kauda Babar questioned why a surcharge was being collected from the people from electricity bills when the Neelum-Jhelum Hydro Power Project had been completed and it was functioning.

The chief executive officer said that we are ready to return Rs8 billion to the government.

He said that the government wanted to use this amount for the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam.

Answering a question, the chief executive officer said that we are ready for third-party audit of the project, and in this regard, we asked the government for audit.

He said that a total of Rs92 billion were receivables of the company.

He said that total capacity of power generation was 969 MW of the NJHPC but we have generated more then capacity.

He said that a total of Rs506 billion had been approved for the project, while the cost incurred up to June 2020 was Rs416.77 billion.

He said that a total of Rs14.069 billion had been budgeted in the current fiscal year under PSDP 20-21.

He said that total physical progress of the project was 99.7 percent.

About financial component, the chief executive officer said that Rs46.963 billion had been disbursed for the project in the name of equity, while Rs72.776 billion had been disbursed in the name of Neelum-Jhelum Surcharge.

He said that Rs20.7 billion cash development loan of the government had been disbursed, while Rs150.477 billion out of Rs180 billion foreign loans had been disbursed. He said that a total of Rs100 billion had been disbursed in the name of Sukuk Commercial Finance.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020