PPL seeks recovery of dues

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has requested Secretary Petroleum to recover Rs 6.186 billion dues from Power Division on account of Take or Pay (ToP) mechanism.

In a letter to Secretary Petroleum, Managing Director/ CEO PPL, Imran Abbasy has cited the reference of para on Take-or-Pay amount before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the series of meetings between PPL and CPGCL under guidance of the Ministry of Energy.

In the last meeting held on May 22, 2023 at Ministry of Energy (Power Division) it had been agreed between PPL and CPGCL that an amount of Rs 6.182 billion remains due from CPGCL for ToP settlement. Subsequently, PPL presented the case in the meeting of its Board of Directors (BoD) for approval.

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After detailed deliberations BoD recommended the following:(i) Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) be requested to get the allocation of amount of Take-or-Pay, i.e., Rs 6.182 billion, confirmed from the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) in the budget of financial year 2023-24, to ensure complete payment of the agreed amount of Take-or-Pay within the financial year 2023-24 and;(ii) the words “but without affecting the operational requirements of CPGCL” appearing at serial No. iv, under heading audit para No.2.3.4.1 in clause No. 2 of the recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) of Power and Petroleum Divisions’, be deleted, since this renders recovery from the CPGCL uncertain.

Managing Director PPL argued that in line with BoD recommendation, Secretary Petroleum intervention with the concerned quarters at Ministry of Energy (Power Division) to have the agreed amount of 6.182 billion allocated for the financial year 2023-24 and its subsequent release to PPL.

It is unclear if the amount has been earmarked in the federal budget 2023-24 or not, as no official was available to confirm it.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023