KP govt wants federal govt to pay Rs128b in net hydel profit for 2016-17

In what can be termed a litmus test for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf led government in the center, the KP government has submitted its claim for the net hydel profit calculated under the AGN Kazi formula.

The KP Energy and Power Department has submitted a claim worth Rs128 billion for the fiscal year 2016-17 as its share in net profit of the electricity generated in the province from hydroelectric dams.

KP officials privy to the matter told SAMAA Digital that the claim has been submitted to the committee constituted by the Council Common Interest with the task to determine the NHP rates as per the AGN Kazi formula.

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Currently, the KP government is getting the NHP at Rs1.10 per unit (kilowatt hours) as per an MOU signed between the former PML-N government in the center and the PTI-led KP government in February, 2016.

“It’s a test for Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party. It will show their reality,” said a senior government official requesting anonymity. “It will be a landmark achievement in the province’s history if the PTI government accepts it,” the official said.

There should not be any resistance in the implementation of AGN Kazi formula as the same party [PTI] is in power in both the federal and the KP government, the official said, adding that claim was sent on November 29.

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Retired bureaucrat Himayatullah Khan, who has been appointed as the adviser to KP chief minister, confirmed about the official correspondence with the federal government.

Khan refuted the reports that the burden of the implementation of the formula will be on consumers.

“Consumers are already paying,” said Khan adding that the federal government is using the money collected from customers to bring the per unit rates of electricity produced by the power generation companies who produce expensive thermal electricity at par with the hydel rates.

As per the AGN Kazi formula, the NHP is the average unit price paid by consumers after subtracting the transmission and distribution cost, he added.

“Article 161 of the Constitution states that the NHP has to be paid to provinces,” he said. AGN Kazi formula should be used for the determination of NHP as it has been approved 8 times by CCI.

Article source: https://www.samaa.tv/news/2018/12/kp-govt-wants-federal-govt-to-pay-rs128b-in-net-hydel-profit-for-2016-17/