Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan could have to pay a whopping $18 billion in fine for not completing the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project within the time-frame stipulated in the agreement, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was informed on Wednesday.
The National Assembly’s (NA) apex committee met with Noor Alam Khan in chair and discussed the non-utilisation of Rs332 billion in gas infrastructure development cess, local media reported.
Demanding progress on the publicly-funded projects, Bargees Tahir said that Rs325 billion were collected, but only Rs2 billion were spent.
Syed Hussain Tariq said that the funds were lying idle, and there was no development on the projects. He warned that Pakistan risks penalties if the gas pipeline project with Iran is not completed in due time.
Secretary petroleum wondered how the amount of Rs325 billion came to the fore when only Rs2.8 billion was recieved by the Petroleum Division. He also deliberated upon the safety and security concerns in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project.
Issue of ban on importing Iranian gas
The secretary also told the comittee that Pakistan has spoken to the United States about the IP gas pipeline project and asked for relief, adding that there is a ban on importing gas from Iran, which restricts Islamabad from doing so. He further said that there have been several meetings with Russia in the past three to four months.
Mohsin Aziz said that levy had been collected for three projects, but regretfully that there had been no progress on any of them.
The members of the committee inquired how much fine could be imposed on Pakistan for not timely completing the IP gas pipeline. The secretary petroleum responded that according to the agreement, the penalty could be $18 billion. He added that they have asked the US envoy to either permit them to go ahead with the project or give them money to pay the fine.
The comittee chairman directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to call the US ambassador and inform him about the gravity of the situation, while also reiterating the two options mentioned by the secretary petroleum.
