Also approves import of 0.125 million tons of Urea, $ 29.9 million to PIAC for acquisition of aircrafts on dry lease
The ECC of the cabinet which met here on Thursday under the chairmanship of the federal minister for finance, Senator Ishaq Dar, approved the export of 250,000 metric tons of sugar by sugar mills from surplus sugar stock.
The ECC decided that quota for export of sugar will be allocated on first come first served basis and the export may be made against irrecoverable letter of credit or a contract with 25 percent non-refundable advance payment and shipment may be made within 45 days of the registration of contract with the SBP, and the non-refundable advance payment to be forfeited in favour of government of Pakistan in case of non-performance.
The finance minister also directed the ministry of industries and production to ensure outstanding payments to sugar cane growers by sugar mills in coordination with the provinces.
The ECC allowed import of 0.125 million tons of urea fertilizer for the incoming kharif (April to September Season) 2014 in order to meet the demand as recommended by the ministry of national food security. This import will not impact our foreign exchange reserves as the same will be imported through ITFC.
The finance minister said the earlier decision of the ECC to maintain the retail price of Rs 1786 per bag must be ensured in the local market. He said the ministries of food security and industries & production should work in coordination with the provinces for the agreed price. The ECC also constituted a four-member committee comprising ministers for water and power, petroleum and natural resources, food security and industries and production to sort out the issue of supply of required gas to the local urea manufacturers.
The ECC considered and approved the summary of the ministry of water and power for utilization of the existing available generation capacity from short-term IPPs subject to the fact that it was not in violation of the Supreme Court’s judgment dated March 30, 2012. It may be mentioned that the power generation equipments imported under another scheme was declared illegal by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in its above-said judgment.
In order to avoid obsolescence of such plants and machinery and to avoid monetary claims under arbitration, these plants and machinery can be utilised to add 200 MW of generation. The ECC directed that the project company shall obtain generation license and tariff determination from NEPRA; terms and conditions of the tariff shall be determined by the NEPRA; tariff shall be based on take and pay basis and electricity actually delivered to the national grid; short-term IPPs may have an option to sell electricity to the bulk consumers like housing societies, industrial parks, etc without the government guarantees and obligation of the public entities to buy all of the generated electricity; term of the power purchase agreement shall be three year; draft PPA shall be prepared by the NTDCL for short-term IPPs for approval of the ECC. No objection from the NAB for utilization of plant and machinery. Unconditionally and irrecoverable waiver of claims of arbitration against the GOP and its entities shall be eligible under the short-term IPPs framework.
The ECC approved the summary of the aviation division for release of an amount of PKR equivalent to 29.9 million US dollars to PIAC for acquisition of aircrafts on dry lease. The PIA intends to lease eight A320S offered by Qatar Aviation Lease Company through international tender. These aircraft will be available from April 2014. The finance minister directed the management of the PIA that they cannot go outside the tender and ensure that all the requirements are met and relevant rules must be followed.
The ECC also considered the summary of the ministry of commerce regarding lifting of ban on the import of gold. The ECC directed the commerce ministry to resubmit the summary, incorporating guidelines provided by ECC, in the third week of April for consideration.
