KARACHI: Former president of KATI and former vice chairman of Pakistan Vegetable Manufacturers Association (PVMA) Sheikh Umer Rehan said in the federal budget, 'unfair' concessions to big investors of FATA and PATA affiliated to ghee industries is given in the name of providing relief to the people which should be taken back immediately.

He demands the removal of unnecessary and unfair concessions and revision of duty structure and marked the given concessions as not acceptable to the rest of the industry.

He said the government should immediately withdraw the unacceptable concessions given to ghee industries in FATA and PATA.

Sheikh Umer Rehan said the FATA and PATA industry was already exempted from sales tax and income tax, adding that it was unfair to provide more facilities to the rest of the country's ghee-related industries.

He said exempting FATA and PATA from federal excise duty is tantamount to making Pakistan's ghee industries a ruin.

He said despite all tax exemptions for FATA and PATA ghee industry, the people of the tribal areas would not be able to get any relief as imported edible oil will be sold in Pakistani areas.

He said the prime minister should implement a uniform tax system to reduce the tax gap between FATA PATA and Pakistan's ghee industries.

Giving tax exemptions to FATA and PATA ghee industries threatens to shut down local industries and put millions of workers out of work. Sheikh Umer Rehan called upon Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen and Prime Minister Special Advisor on Trade Razzaq Dawood to take immediate notice and resolve the issue of the ghee industry, as it is severe unrest in the country's edible oil and ghee manufacturer.

To provide relief to FATA and PATA could lead to a stalemate in new investments in Pakistan's ghee industries.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021