Month: March 2021

Despite the passage of three months, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs has failed to appoint a regular chairman of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT). With its failure to make the appointment, the ministry has once again sought an extension in the additional charge of KPT chairman given to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs secretary. The cabinet is scheduled to discuss the issue on Tuesday (today). KPT has a board of trustees, which comprises its members and the chairman is appointed under Section 6 (l) of the relevant Act by the…

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Policymakers have approved power subsidy reform measures under which subsidy for 8 million consumers will come to an end in the first phase. As part of reforms, the government will increase the ceiling for lifeline consumers from 50 units to 100 units per month. At present, 22 million electricity consumers are getting subsidy. However, it will be limited to 13.9 million consumers, which will be only through the Ehsaas social welfare programme, following the implementation of reforms. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), in its meeting held last week, was told…

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ISLAMABAD: A recently completed US government-assisted pilot project will help the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) save Rs1.3 billion annually by overcoming the issues of theft, billing problems and power supply in the provincial capital. Under the project, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) installed 157-km anti-theft cable and 5,000 smart meters in various areas covered by Pesco, including Chamkani subdivision, which had been reporting approximately 60 per cent revenue loss worth Rs1.3bn annually, a press release said on Monday. Smart meters operating on a central wireless internet system…

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ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday decided not to increase the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by adjusting taxes, but increased the rates of kerosene and light diesel oil. “Despite very limited fiscal space, the government has decided that the prices of petrol and HSD will remain the same,” said the Ministry of Finance. On the other hand, it increased the price of kerosene by Rs3.42 per litre and light diesel oil by Rs2.19 per litre. This is third fortnight that the government did not increase the prices of…

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LAHORE: The Gwadar GasPort Limited (GGPL) plans to invest $94.04 million in a ‘virtual pipeline’ to deliver imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the doorsteps of the industrial and other private sector consumers at competitive prices via cryogenic bowsers. “We hope to commission the terminal as early as October/November subject to issuance of a provisional licence from the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and other regulatory approvals,” a senior GGPL executive told Dawn on Monday. The company — a joint venture comprising the Pakistan GasPort, Al-Qasim Gas and Jamshoro Joint Venture…

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