Govt asked to address reservations of industrialists on GIDC

The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) on Friday asked the government to remove reservations of industries, including CNG sector, about the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC).

In a statement, SCCI President Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz said that relief for Covid-19 hit industries, including the CNG sector was inevitable. He said that a high-powered committee should be constituted in light of the recent decision of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) about GIDC. The SCCI president said that businessmen attached with the CNG sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa filed a petition in PHC, appealing the court that they didn’t avail GIDC so the government decision to recover an amount from industries, including CNG sector, should not be implemented. He said the industrialists/CNG owners couldn’t accept the government decision of recovering the amount under the head of GIDC.

He said the PHC had directed the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to submit an audit report regarding GIDC within a month period and constitute a high-powered committee to address this issue amicably.

For the committee, he said, the SCCI had proposed three experts and asked the Orga to give them representation in the committee. He requested the federal government to provide relief to the industries, including the CNG sector, which had been adversely affected by Covid-19 pandemic.