KARACHI: The leadership of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has expressed strong dissatisfaction over the government’s decision to freeze gas tariffs for six months, terming it an inadequate and cosmetic relief that fails to address the core challenges faced by industry.
In a joint statement issued on Thursday, Businessmen Group (BMG) Chairman Zubair Motiwala and KCCI President Rehan Hanif said the business community had repeatedly urged the government to announce a meaningful reduction in gas tariffs to lower the cost of doing business and improve industrial competitiveness.
They pointed out that the actual cost of indigenous gas is around Rs1,800 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), yet industries—particularly captive power plants—are being charged close to Rs4,000 per mmBtu, which they described as unjustifiable and economically harmful.
The KCCI leaders also highlighted that gas supplied to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for heating and process-related use is being billed at an excessively high rate of about Rs2,300 per mmBtu. This, they warned, has forced many industrial units to curtail or shut operations, leading to rising unemployment.
Expressing concern over recent billing trends, they alleged an unannounced increase in the share of re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) in industrial gas supply. While industries were earlier informed that the RLNG mix would be limited to 10 per cent, recent bills indicate that it has been raised to 20 per cent, significantly inflating gas costs.
The KCCI leadership urged the government to immediately review its gas pricing framework, rationalise tariffs in line with actual costs, roll back the increased RLNG mix, and provide genuine relief to industrial consumers.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) adopted a more optimistic stance. FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh said recent economic stability and improvements in key macroeconomic indicators were closely linked to an improved security environment. He emphasised that sustainable economic growth depends on national security and lauded initiatives such as the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) for promoting foreign and domestic investment.
