Govt earning Rs 35.89 per kg on CNG sale: Paracha
06 November, 2012
LAHORE: The government is earning over Rs 35.89 on sale of every kilogramme of CNG, the former central chairman of the All Pakistan CNG Association Ghias Paracha revealed on Monday.
Briefing the members of the Lahore Economic Journalists Association (LEJA) at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry's regional office, Paracha claimed that the Supreme Court has stopped the SNGPL from conducting load shedding of gas, since the Ministry of Petroleum as well as the SNGPL or SSGC were stakeholders in the sector just as the industry and the CNG pumps.
The ministry, therefore, has no authority to take decisions about the suspension or supply of gas to any stakeholder, he stated. The CNG Association said that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) will now plan the load management of gas as well as the CNG, as the court has barred the Petroleum Ministry and the SNGPL from deciding about load shedding.
Paracha was flanked by the CNG Association's Punjab Chairman Capt (r) Shuja Anwar, LEJA President Zahid Abid and General Secretary Ishtiaq Hussain. He said that the government had not decreased its taxes while issuing a notification for the decrease in the rate of CNG, setting the profit margin of the CNG station owners at "zero level". He claimed the government itself was earning over Rs 35.89 per kilogramme on sale of CNG.
Paracha said all the major accountancy firms of national and international repute could audit the profit of CNG stations and they (owners) will accept the profit rate fixed by the auditors. He said that CNG sector wants to facilitate the consumers and if the court cuts rates of CNG further, they will accept it, but the government should also decrease the huge profit it was earning in the form of taxes.
He said that the Petroleum Ministry informed the Supreme Court about the operating cost borne by the CNG stations but did not mention the billions of rupees in revenue earned by the government. The association further said that it would go to the Supreme Court in this regard. The Ministry of Petroleum receives Rs 80.012 billion in general sales tax (GST), Gas Infrastructure Development Subsidy and gas development subsidy, he claimed.
The Petroleum Ministry has imposed 25 percent GST on the CNG sector, while the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had fixed it at 16 percent, Paracha said. Other than that, the ministry has also applied Gas Development Subsidy and Gas Infrastructure Development Surcharge on the 3.5 million consumers using CNG-fitted cars.
The GST collected by the government amounts to Rs 26.61 billion, the Gas Infrastructure Development Subsidy amounts to Rs 24.604 billion and Gas Development Subsidy comes out at Rs 28.787 billion, Paracha added. He said that on wrong information of the ministry, the Supreme Court, on October 25, zeroed the operative cost of Rs 20.80 per kg on the CNG that entrepreneurs of CNG stations were getting since 2006.
Paracha said that the OGRA had wrongly interpreted and implemented the verdict of the apex court.
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