Exporters' key demands on energy tariff accepted.

Byline: Khaleeq Kiani

ISLAMABAD -- The government on Wednesday accepted major demands of the export sector, including the textile industry, particularly relating to energy sector tariff.

Under an agreement, the zero-rated industries, including textiles, would be provided electricity at an all-inclusive rate of 7.5 cents per unit (kWh) and gas at $6.5 per unit (million British thermal unit or mmBtu) until June 30 this year.

The government would also immediately withdraw electricity bills issued to the export sector with effect from January 2019 which had included a series of surcharges, quarterly adjustments and fuel price adjustments, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) chief executive officer Shahid Sattar told Dawn.

The combined impact of these decisions was estimated at about Rs50 billion.

Electricity bills issued from January 2019 to be withdrawn

Mr Sattar said the government also accepted a demand of the industry to allow import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) directly by the private sector. He said LNG would be available at about $5.5 per mmBtu through private sector imports, compared to $8-10 through the public sector.

'The meeting resolved all outstanding issues relating to energy tariff,' said a statement issued by the power division after talks between the government and a delegation of Aptma and zero-rated industries.

The government team included Minister for Power and Petroleum Omar Ayub Khan, Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar, Adviser to the PM on Industries and Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood and Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar.

The statement said the meeting discussed all matters relating to textile and other zero-rated industries. 'It was decided that the government will provide a maximum of Rs20bn additional subsidy for power and petroleum in the next year's budget,' it said, adding that the government team expressed its resolve to provide all-out support to these industries for better economic growth of the country.

Mr Sattar said the export sector told the government that it would not need additional subsidy next year provided it was allowed to import LNG through its own sources. 'The government team accepted this demand,' he added.

The export industry had been threatening for the past two months to close down factories and businesses after the power companies issued bills at higher rates and that too with retrospective effect from...