For the first time in 20 years of its existence, the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has become financially autonomous, as no allocation is made for it in the federal budget for the next fiscal year.
The authority is expected to earn Rs 180 million on account of water utilisation cess during the current fiscal year. An official source said IRSA had started receiving water utilisation cess from the provinces, the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). The Council of Common Interests (CCI) in April last year had allowed IRSA to charge water utilisation cess from the provinces, WAPDA and PAEC.
Since IRSA had no source of income and its expenses were met through federal government grants, the CCI in April last year had authorised the water regulator to charge water utilisation cess from provinces on six monthly basis and from WAPDA and PAEC on a quarterly basis. The decision was taken at the request of IRSA which faced cash flow problems.
The source said the revenue generated by the authority this fiscal year was being utilised to return the federal government grant. He said WAPDA had made a payment of Rs 54 million, while PAEC has paid Rs 15 million. He said the remaining amount from the provinces, mainly Punjab and Sindh, was likely to be cleared during the current month.
Under the CCI decision, water cess was charged at 30 paisa per acre feet of irrigation water by provinces and half a paisa per unit on water used for electricity generation by WAPDA. The provinces utilise about 114 million acre feet of water each year.
