The Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Monday approved the phase-wise transfer of power producers to provinces, and kept the issue of carrying out the national census for discussion at the next meeting.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif presided over the meeting.
The meeting also approved annual report of the National Electronic Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). Nawaz said that presently the government has very limited resources to bear losses of state enterprises.
In the past, unnecessary recruitment and corruption has resulted in mismanagement of these organisations and therefore in the national interest, privatisation is the only solution, said the PM. He added that governance is a collective responsibility and all the provinces have to work in tandem.
It was decided by the CCI to continue with the policy of 2011 regarding privatisation of power sector entities – DISCOs and GENCOs.
The CCI also approved issuance of sovereign guarantee for Thar coal mining project. Nawaz said that Thar coal was an important national project which has to be fully supported as it would provide the much needed electricity at cheap rates. Moreover, it was decided that sovereign guarantees would be provided for all future coal based projects. The National Energy (Power) Policy 2013-18 was also approved.
The CCI expressed its dissatisfaction over the performance of NEPRA and it was decided that a diagnostic analysis be conducted in order to improve its performance.
The PM said that provincial consultation should be mandatory before appointment of board members in public sector companies so that equal representation is ensured. CCI was presented with Annual Report for the year 2012-13, which was approved.
The Pakistan Engineering Council (Amendment) Bill 2013 was approved by the CCI. On the issue of purchase of 20 percent shares of PPL, OGDCL and SSGCL at their face value under the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan, the PM directed the Finance Division to hold detailed consultations with provinces.
The Water and Power Ministry was directed to hold meetings with all provinces to discuss the principles and decide upon mechanism for at-source deduction of outstanding power sector payables of provinces.
PTCL PROPERTIES:
The CCI also decided to expedite the transfer of properties in the name of PTCL so that revenue of $800 million is realized.
The transfer of properties in the name of PTCL would pave the way for resolving a dispute between Etisalat and the government of Pakistan which would enable payment of $800 million to the government by Etisalat.
Following the privatisation of PTCL to Etisalat in year 2006, the UAE-based company had paid only six bi-annual installments totalling about $801 million to the government out of total $1.2 billion. Rest of the amount had been withheld on pretext that all the assets of the PTCL be handed over to Etisalat. However, the federal government contended that some provincial governments were reluctant to handover PTCL’s assets to the company due to court cases and some encroachments by other entities.
According to sources, the government, under the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA), was required to provide clear titles of 100 per cent of PTCL properties (3,384 in number) by January 12, 2008. A balance of 161 non-transferred properties (including 71 in Punjab and 45 in Sindh) were still remaining despite a lapse of around eight years. The UAE government had been urging the top officials of the PML-N government to handover assets of PTCL to Etisalat.
They added that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had been directed by the PM to ensure handing over of the assets and the CCI’s approval of a result of personal interest taken by the finance minister.
The 25th CCI meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the PM’s Office, which was attended by the chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Inter-provincial Coordination Division Secretary Ejaz Chaudhry presented the agenda.
