The business community of South Punjab has strongly opposed the re-introduction of Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) on the already hard pressed industrialists and termed it detrimental to Pakistan exports which had already fallen by $2 billion. Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Mian Iqbal Hassan on Sunday strongly opposed the re-imposition of Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) through an 'ordinance' and said that it would harm the economic uplift of the country.
He asked the government to withdraw the GIDC at earliest to save the industry from its consequences. He was exchanging these views with traders and industrialists in a meeting held here at the chamber. MCCI Senior Vice President Alamgir Jamil Khan, Vice President Mirza Ali Ahmed and other members were also present on the occasion. Mian Iqbal Hassan said the high courts of Sindh and Peshawar had already issued judgements against the imposition of GIDC while the Supreme Court had also refused to give legal cover to GIDC and the Lahore High Court also issued a stay order against GIDC Ordinance 2014. He said that after these decisions there was no legal justification to impose the said tax through an ordinance. The MCCI president Mian Iqbal Hassan said that the main purpose of levying GIDC was to mobilise funds for the development of gas infrastructure for Iran-Pakistan (IP) and Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan India (TAPI) pipeline projects.
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