SCCI asks govt to review proposed gas policy

PESHAWAR: Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has opposed the government plan to introduce the policy of National Weighted Average Cost of Gas through legislation in the parliament.

The government was urged to review the proposed policy to ensure the protection of constitutional rights and avoid putting additional burden on the provinces which have abundant natural resources. Talking to a delegation of industrialists here on here on Wednesday, SCCI President Hasnain Khurshid said the new policy would a break with the past practice of ring-fenced pricing and supply of local gas and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) to various consumer categories meaning thereby to create room for the RLNG as rationalization of consumer gas prices in the country.

It was noted with concern that if the bill was passed, all the prices would be based on the average cost of gas i.e. average cost of natural gas plus imported gas. Hasnain Khurshid said such a practice would be against the Constitution and not in the interest of the net gas producing provinces. He explained that only the province of Punjab which is the most gas-consuming province with no natural gas resources will benefit from the move.

The SCCI chief said the proposed policy is tantamount to usurping constitutional rights of natural gas producing provinces, which couldn’t accept them at any cost, vowing that they will resist and take aggressive steps if it was implemented. Hasnain Khurshid said Article 158 of the Constitution clearly states that

“the province in which a well-head of natural gas is situated, shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan in meeting the requirements from that wellhead.”