Pages: 3 profit.com.pk Sunday, 22 January, 2012

KARACHI

GHULAM ABBAS

T He much awaited unilateral tariffconcession to Pakistan proposed byeuropean Union (eU) is unlikely tobenefit the country’s exports as itsproduction of textile made-ups has

badly affected by the present energy crisis.As the production has reduced drasticallydue to the electricity and gas shortages theeU package which is likely to be discussedat World trade Organisation on February 1,would also not be able to change the down-

ward trend of textile exports. talking toProfit, Mohsin Aziz, Chairman All Pakistantextile Mills Association said that the inview of the acute energy crisis country’s ex-ports would be reduced by over $2 billionduring the current financial year. the cur-rent negative growth against the expected$14 billion worth exports would also causereduction in overall exports.

the export of textile, in terms ofquantity, has been reduced by at least 38per cent during the couple of months.Last month exports were declined from$1.12 billion to $900 million with the re-

duction of $2.5 million. During novem-ber and December 2011, there was a de-cline of at least $400 million.

Keeping in view the current down-ward trend and massive energy crisis,PtMA forecasts that the country wouldhardly reach the $12 billion worth ex-ports by the end of the financial year2011-2012 against the previous figure of$14 billion. He said negative growth intextile sector was alarming and this trendis likely to continue in future unless en-ergy and interest rate issues for the tex-tile industry are addressed.

the textile exports, in terms of value,he claimed, were better during July andAugust of the current fiscal year, but thedecline in quantity terms was startedfrom October after the days’ long gas endelectricity breakdowns especially to theindustrial sector of Punjab. Another fac-tor of decline in exports, what he said,was the high interest rate which was af-fecting both production and expansion ofthe industry. According to him, a reduc-tion of 150 basis points in rates to pro-duce export surplus has failed to pushcredit off-take, which means the interest

rate is still on the higher side and bothcommercial and industrial borrowers arereluctant on further financing.

talking about eU trade concessionspackage of 75 items to Pakistan, the chair-man APtMA hoped that the draft waiversent by eU to Council of trade and Goodsof WtO would be passed unanimouslynext months. However, he said, until theenergy issue, which has paralysed thecountry’s industries, is resolved besidestaking other measure for growth of pro-duction and exports, the eU packagewould not be fruitful to the country.

‘EU trade concession not beneficial under present energy crisis’

CGT RATIONALISATION

Ministry acceptsSECP proposals

KARACHI

ISMAIL DILAWAR

Minister for Finance DrAbdul Hafeez sheikh sat-urday agreed to the secu-rities and exchangeCommission of Pakistan’s

(seCP) proposals on the rationalisation ofcontroversial Capital Gains tax (CGt) torevive the investors’ confidence at thecountry’s volumes-starved capital market.

Under seCP proposals taxpayerswould be exempted from declaring his/hersource of income till June 2014, withhold-ing tax (WHt) on the turnover would beabolished, the current CGt rate would befrozen till 2016 and that the nationalClearing Company of Pakistan Limited(nCCPL) under a revised collection mech-anism would at source deduct the tax oncapital gains directly. Further, besides al-lowing individual investors’ participationin the Margin trading system (Mts) theapex regulator, by amending securities(Leveraged Markets and Pledging) rules2011, allowed 15 per cent cash margin and10 percent margin via eligible securitieswith immediate effect (from Monday).

Moreover, to enhance brokers’ ca-pacity to execute business, seCP al-lowed each member of the three stockexchanges to do additional businessagainst a specified collateral amountfrom their respective Clearing HouseProtection Funds.

the brokers at Kse would be al-lowed to do additional business by rs50million (each) against a collateralamount of rs10 million. “this would in-crease the daily market capacity byaround 150 million shares,” seCP chair-man Muhammad Ali told a well-at-tended ceremony on “serving investorsand industry” held here at Karachistock exchange (Kse) saturday.

the nCCPL would manage the threeFunds as separate pools for each ex-change. “i do accept these proposals and

want the same be in operation from April1,” the finance minister told the gathering.Federal finance minister also assured theseCP chief of his full support on the pro-posed demutualisaion of the country’sstock exchanges on the legislative front.

in his address, seCP chairmanslammed the front regulators, the ex-changes, for not playing their due rolein proposing financial literacy which hesaid was the lowest in Pakistan. OnseCP’s part, he said, a three-year in-vestors’ education Plan was due to beapproved next week.

Further, urging the need for “bettersurveillance” for investors’ protection,Ali said second phase of e-dividend wasin the offing in collaboration with theCentral Depositary Company while thenCCPL was developing “central database” that would not only help the ex-changes ease out documentationprocess but also keep check on moneylaundering. “We expect this programmeto finalise by the end of March,” theseCP chief said.

Commenting on the development,the analysts believe that by exemptingthe investors from declaring theirsource of income till 2014 the economicmanagers wanted to whiten their most-referred black money. “Afterwards thatwealth would be treated as white,” saidKhurram schehzad, an analyst at in-vestCap research. seCP, however, saysthe exemption of CGt for a long periodof 36 years, from 1974 to June 2010,had created a situation whereby the in-vestors had earned legitimate but “un-documented gains”.

About the collection of CGt by thenCCPL, the analyst said it would help thetaxpayer avoid the income tax officers.seCP decided to revamp the CGt aftereventually realizing that maintaining sta-tus quo on the CGt was not in the interestof the economy as it had adversely im-pacted tax revenue collection as well astrading volumes at capital markets.

g Investors exempted from showing source of incomeg NCCPL and not FBR to directly deduct CGT at sourceg Individual investors’ participation in MTS allowedg Brokers given Rs50mn for executing additional businessg Cash margin requirement for MTS cut from 25 to 15 per centg Withholding tax on turnover abolished to avoid double taxation

Is Pakistanthe biggestbuyer of blacktea Page 02

PRO 22-01-2012_Layout 1 1/22/2012 2:38 AM Page 1

news02Sunday, 22 January, 2012

IsmAt sAbIR

T eA is commonly used as bever-age in almost all over the world.Pakistan is the fourth largesttea importer in the world, afterrussia, UK and egypt. Pakistan

has a market of over 140 to 170 millionkg for black tea, which is imported from21 countries including Kenya, indonesia,india, Bangladesh and sri Lanka. Blacktea is the only kind of tea that is subjectto international quality regulations.

to meet the demand, Pakistan im-ported tea worth $120 million in 1998-99, which rose to $210 million in1999-00, showing an increase of over65 per cent. its imports were rs9.611billion in 2001-02, increased tors12.965 billion in 2006-07, rs12.653billion in 2007-08 and rs17.417 billionin 2008-09. it further rose to rs22.712billion in 2009-10. the imports duringthe nine months, July-March 20010-11,were as high as rs22.329 billion. it isestimated that at the end of this decadePakistan would be the biggest buyer ofblack tea in the world.

the per capita consumption of tea inPakistan is about one kilogram and iscontinuously increasing due to increasein demand. the average annual percapita consumption in the world is 0.75kg. the average consumption in the Usis 0.35 kg, Australia 2.7 kg, iran 2.4 kg,sri Lanka 1.45 kg, india 0.52 kg, China0.3 kg, and Japan 0.94 kg and in turkeyit is 2.15 kg. About 170,000 tonnes teawas imported in 2010. the average an-nual tea imports come to rs17.417 billionduring 2008-09 that was a massive bur-den on the national exchequer.

the historical facts showed that teawas discovered around 5,000 years agoand supposed the oldest prepared bever-age. tea is available in black, green andyellow or in white colours, depending onhow it was processed. the tea tree, undernatural conditions, can reach up to 10 to15 meters, but when it is cultivated ingardens its height is artificially limited toone meter only in order to facilitate thepickers. tea trees are grown mainly intropical and subtropical regions with hu-midity of 70 to 90 per cent. rainfallsmust be abundant with a yearly averageof 1,500 to 2,500 millimeters.

Leaves can be picked by hand or me-chanically. However, manual pickingyields leaves are of higher quality. impe-rial picking involves picking only the ter-minal bud (Pekoe) and the first leave.Fine picking involves picking the termi-nal bud and the first two leaves. Classicalpicking, the main technique being usedtoday, includes the terminal bud plusthree to four leaves. tea is a most com-mon beverage; its benefits are that itmakes the body active, cure headache,giddiness and tiredness. it facilitates res-piration, eases the brain and helps instrengthening the memory. it has beenindicated in a research study of iC thattea helps in preventing cancer and fillingof teeth cavities.

VARIETIES

tea can be grown in three main vari-eties: camellia sinensiss, camellia sinen-sis assamic and camellia seinensiscambodiensis. Botanically calledCamella sinnensis, is found both inshrub and tree forms. this crop can be

successfully grown in a wide range of cli-mate in different parts of the world. itsplantation ranges from 42 n to 27 s andat altitude from sea level to 2000 meters.tea growth required temperature shouldrange from 12C to 30C. temperaturesbelow freezing and above 35C greatlyhamper the tea growth. it is usuallygrown on sloping land. However, it canbe grown on plains with good drainage.the water requirement of tea is compar-atively higher than other crops.

tea is a perennial crop. it takes fourto six years to mature and crop life is be-tween 80 to 100 years. tea is a high returnper acre crop that is higher than otheragronomic crops. Yield per acre variesfrom field to field, in india; yield per acreis about 450 kg. One plant produces about70 kg of black tea in a year. in warm cli-mate, the plant is plucked in four yearswith the production period of 50 years. incountries like sri Lanka having favourableproduction climate, tea plant is pluckedevery 5 to 10 days. in other countries likeChina and Japan’s plucking interval is be-tween 70 to 90 days.

Being a perennial crop, it covers thesoil round the year thus helps in increas-ing the storage life of dams and otherwater reservoirs. in hilly areas it can alsoact as sanctuary for wild life as it can bea good shelter for various wild lifespecies and needs very little care.

PRICES

tea prices in Pakistan have in-creased almost six times since 1990-91. the price of a tea packet of 250 kgwas available in rs20 that increasedto rs54 in 2000-01, rs62 in 2004-05, rs68 in 2006-07, rs98 in 2008-09 and rs119 during 2009-10. now200gm packet is available at rs114in Karachi market. it is estimatedthat out of the total 200,000 tonnesof consumption, about 50 per cent issmuggled under the cover of Att.

IMPORTS

Pakistan importsaround 65 per centtea from Kenya,while it is alsoi m p o r t e df r o mBangladesh,B r a z i l ,i n d i a ,U g a n d aand someo t h e rA f r i c a ncountries. inaddition, teais smuggledvia the bordersof KhyberPakhtunkhwa andBalochistan.

SMUGGLING

tea smuggling is the main problemthat is not only hurting genuine tea im-porters but also depriving national ex-chequer. For instance, during 2006 about48,000 tonnes of tea was brought illegallyin the country as compared to 40,000tonnes in FY05, causing a revenue loss of

rs2 billion. the tea smuggling further in-creased to 100,000 tonnes in 2009-10.

TEA CULTIVATION IN PAKISTAN

For tea cultivation some areas of Khy-ber Pakhtunkhwa were found suitablethat include the districts of Mansehra,Batagram, shangla and swat. in theseareas 1.5 lakh acre of land has been de-clared suitable for tea cultivation.

to grow tea domestically many ef-forts have been made to cultivate it inthe mountainous areas but could suc-ceed. now three private companies haveplanned to grow tea over an area of17,000 acres in Khyber PK and AJK,which would be given on lease for a pe-riod of 30 to 40 years to the investorswho intended to invest rs4.5 billion. Outof the three tea importing companies, twocompanies have managed to acquire1,000 acres each in AJK at lease for 30years. the national tea research insti-tute, shinkiari, was to provide saplings.

Although ntri was established in1970 but after lapsing 30 years the desiredresults could not be achieved. Only 1,350acres were brought under plantation byinstitute. On the other hand, to fulfill do-

mestic demand about 170,000 acres areneeded to be brought under cultivation.

TEA PLANTATION IN AJK

the AJK government has leased out3,000 acres of forest land to a group ofthree companies for 15 years for tea culti-vation in the area. the land had beenleased out against rs600,000 per annum.the group of tea plantation was to investabout rs1.5 billion over the next five yearsin the AJK, east of Muzaffarabad city. theproject has a potential of producing over100 million kg of tea per annum.

the group would train and encour-age local farmers to set up tea saplingnurseries in their holdings on a guar-anteed buy back agreement basis. thegroup would also establish tea pro-cessing units after tea plantationswere set up in the area at large scale.these units would buy all the rawgreen leaf produced by the privatefarmers in the area.

the tea cultivation is a labour inten-sive activity; it would generate employ-ment opportunities and can reducepoverty in the tea growing areas.

Besides, it is estimated that afarmer can earn up to rs80,000 peryear from tea cultivation on one kanalof land, which is many times morethan the income from any other crop.it was planned that tea farmers couldalso get interest free loans from thescheduled banks under the policy ofthe federal government.

PLAN TO REDUCE TEA IMPORT BILL

to reduce the tea import bill that ismore than rs22 billion, the governmenthas decided to commercialise tea pro-duction by starting a rs890 million pub-lic-private partnership programme. theproject was to be launched in the north-ern areas of the KP and AJK. Accordingto the plan, tea plantation would be doneon 4,000 acres by the private sector, 800acres by the KP extension department,200 acres by the AJK extension depart-ment and 50 acres in FAtA.

there are many constraints in teacultivation such as climate and fre-

quency of rainfall, type of land, degreeof slope of land, availability of inputslike seed and fertilisers and the un-trained labour. tea cultivation is notpossible in Punjab and sindh due tothe above reasons.

Due to small holdings the farmersare reluctant to grow tea because it is along duration crop takes seven to eightyears to reach complete yielding stage.therefore, they prefer short durationcrops like vegetables, maize, rice andwheat etc. that provide quick return tomeet their daily life expenditures. Mostof the farmers are very poor while tearequires some investment for its cul-tural practices such as weeding, fertili-sation and irrigation etc. thusinvestment on tea and poverty of thefarmers are one of the big hurdles fortea cultivation in Pakistan.

the Zarai taraqiati Bank (ZtBL) fa-cilitates the farmers by providingrs60,000 in three installments, free ofinterest for the first four years, which donot meet the requirements of this crop.the interest rate is very high i.e. nine percent, which would be charged after fouryears while the crop reaches completeyielding stage after seven to eight years.the amount of loan is not only insuffi-cient but also further increases the bur-den on the growers.

Moreover, the procedure gettingloan is too complicated for a poor and il-literate farmer. the loan provision islimited to only two acres plantation.

if government is sincere, it shouldannounce attractive incentives for pri-vate companies and individuals. thetea research institutes should providetechnical know-how to private sectorsfor plantation. the loan amountshould be increased and the repaymentshould be extended from existing 4th to9th year. similarly, the loan procedureshould be simplified and the limitationshould be increased beyond two acresso that block plantation could be en-couraged on common farmer’s fields.tea production can be enhanced eitherby increasing the acreage or by boost-ing yields through management prac-tices. the acreage can only be increasedif farmers know better techniques andhave credibility that their harvestwould be lifted without difficulty.

Is Pakistan thebiggest buyer ofBLACK TEA?

PRO 22-01-2012_Layout 1 1/22/2012 2:38 AM Page 2

news

Sunday, 22 January, 2012

03

Cement consumption: a barometer of progressFARAKH sHAHzAd

T He construction industry isvery important for country’seconomic growth, infrastruc-ture development and employ-ment generation. the industry

trains manpower not only for meeting thecountry’s domestic requirements butalso the needs of foreign markets. theconstruction industry and cement are asintertwined as the human body and soulin a way that none can survive withoutthe survival of the other. Cement is al-ways considered as a barometer ofprogress in the developing countriesand is rightly taken as an important eco-nomic activity indicator.

Cement consumption is considered tobe major source of economic growth, de-velopment and economic activities whichplays a key role in generating income inboth formal and informal sectors by of-fering job opportunities to millions of un-skilled, semi skilled and skilledworkforce. it is the driving wheel of theconstruction industry which plays a piv-otal role in the socio economic develop-ment of a country by providinginfrastructure, sanctuary and employ-ment by setting up a network of hospitals,schools, township, offices, houses andother buildings: urban infrastructure (in-cluding water supply, sewerage anddrainage); highways, roads, ports, rail-ways, airports, power stations; irrigationand agriculture systems including damsand telecommunications. it generates asubstantial employment and provides im-petus to other sectors through backward,forward and parallel linkages.

the prolonged recession of recentyears and drying of government develop-ment programs have played havoc withviability of cement sector. Capacity utili-sation of cement sector reached its lowest– at 69.67 per cent – of the past decade,in the first two quarters of 2011-12 thatended on December 31, 2011. Whereas,exports continue to decline and in turnoffsetting the gains in local consumption.All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers’ As-sociation (APCMA) sources say that ce-ment industry did not end the year 2011on a happy note as the capacity utilisationof the industry stood at 81.53 per cent in2007-08 that has gradually declined to itspresent level, giving nightmares to the ce-ment manufacturers. the expected turn-around in the economy did notmaterialise as the capacities of the sectorcontinue to increase.

it is to be noted that domestic de-

mand in December 2011 was encourag-ing, showing a growth of over 13 per cent.this compensated to some extent the de-cline of 5.12 per cent in local demand innovember. However, the exports re-mained under pressure during the last sixmonths posting decline in four of the lastsix months. statistics shows that exportsdeclined by over eight per cent in Decem-ber. Overall decline in exports stood at4.58 per cent during July-December 2011period. total cement dispatches in thefirst two quarter of this year was 15.40million tones which was 4.21 per centhigher than the cement dispatches of14.78 million tonnes during correspon-ding period last year.

Manufacturers complain that low gaspressure is causing plant tripping as wellas production losses to industries. thesituation, unfortunately has now exacer-bated, deficient gas pressure is causingfurther production losses to industrieswhich already observed two days shutdown. All this is translating into escalat-ing financial losses and threatening thesurvival of many industries.

Contrary to the claims of manufactur-ers, who are constantly trying to portraythe condition of cement sector as worsethrough jugglery of data, the cement salesin Dec 2011 have jumped by 18.1 per centwith domestic sales skyrocketing by animpressive 23 per cent. experts said thatthe cement cartel is continuously de-manding the government to provide itsubsidy or payment of inland freight asthe sector’s sale is either going to down-ward or it is stagnant. According to ex-perts, the cement sector also availed therelief in last budget 2011-12 when theFeD was reduced from rs700 per tonneto rs500 per tonne, Gst was reduced byone per cent and the special excise Dutywas abolished. Hence, the impact of thesemeasures amounted to over rs30 per bagbut it was not passed on to the con-sumers, they added. some analysts saidthat despite increase in the electricity tar-iff, furnace oil rates and diesel prices inthe past six months, the hike in the ce-ment prices was unjustified, as the mainingredient in cement industry is coal,which is becoming cheaper these days.

Cement manufacturers has warnedthat government that mounting losseshave propelled closure of four out of 22cement industry units, while others areon the verge of collapse. the APCMAsources say that they are still payingaround rs100 per 50 kg bag in terms ofvarious taxes in addition to the freightcharges. they say that the fiscal year

2010-11 proved to be a nightmare for thecement sector as 80 per cent of the ce-ment manufacturers suffered huge losseson the back of stagnant local consump-tion. they regretted that the governmentfailed to honor its commitment for pay-ment of inland freight subsidy that couldhave boosted exports. APCMA sourceshave stated in their press release thatcontinuous losses to cement industry areunbearable and might jeopardize theservicing of rs132 billion in loans the in-dustry owes to the banking sector. theassociation says that the cement industryhas been incurring massive losses due tohigh cost of production, declining exportsand decrease in local demand of the com-modity but the government ignored allthe issues of cement makers and no sup-port was extended to the ailing industry.

the spokesman from APCMA saidthat two years ago the government agreedto share transportation cost from mills tosea port. this, he added, boosted exportsand provided some relief to the industrybut it is regrettable that the promised sup-

port was never provided. even in the cur-rent budget, there is no mention of an in-land freight subsidy of rs270 million tothe cement makers which has added to theproblems of the industry, he stated withdismay. He recalled that the economic Co-ordination Committee (eCC) and tradeDevelopment Authority of Pakistan(tDAP) had approved inland freight sub-sidy on export of cement by sea.

APCMA has called for the governmentto take action to save the cement industrywhich is the guarantor of progress in thecountry. the cycle of progress will movebackward if prompt and positive steps arenot taken at the right time. APCMA hasdemanded the government to encouragethe construction of concrete roads and useof cement blocks instead of bricks whichis the modern and internationally recog-nized method of construction.

it is significant to note that inflation-ary pressures in the past three years havesurged rates of each item; however, thecement industry has not passed the in-creased cost on the consumers due to stiff

competition amongst manufacturers andsurplus capacity. Current cement ratesrange between rs415 and rs425 per bagin different markets. APCMA sources saythat the cement manufacturers are yet topass on the large impact of rapidly in-creasing input costs in coal, electricity,diesel, paper sacks and transportationcost. they claim that 30 percent of theper bag price goes to the government intaxes and levies which means that a con-sumer pays rs125 to the governmentwhile purchasing a cement bag.

the analysts say that they expect cementprofitability that is expected to be more de-pendent on prices as compared to dis-patches. if the dispatches clock in at(32.5mn tonnes in FY12 as expected) andprices remain firm, profitability of the bigsectors is expected to generate further in-vestor’s interest in these companies. How-ever, cement dispatches are expected toimprove from February onwards due to bet-ter utilisation as the election year dawns,thus the government is expected to enhanceits public spending in the 2HFY12.

R eCentLY Government of Pak-istan, without consulting thestake holders involved, imposedban on import of CnG Kits andCnG Cylinders and has re-

stricted the OeM companies i.e. Paksuzuki Motor Company, indus MotorsCompany and also after market installersto stop conversion of vehicles to CnG.

it is pertinent to understand the back-ground as to why GOP started vigorously

promoting CnG around year 2000 on-wards with the full knowledge of the nat-ural gas reserves available in the countryand the projected consumption of naturalgas by other sectors of the economy.

in late nineties the GOP was heavilyborrowing from international Donors forthe health sector. the major donors wereof the view that two major factors affectingthe health of the general masses in Pak-istan were; a) non-availability of clean

drinking water and b) the very high level ofpollution in our urban centers. the Donorswere reluctant to help in the health sectorunless the GOP took concrete measures toeliminate these root causes. this pressureof the donors was thus the main impetusfor promotion of CnG as a short cut to im-prove the urban air quality.

the civil society, especially in Lahorewas cognizant to the air quality in Lahore,and as a consequence to their movementunder the leader ship of Dr Pervaiz Has-san the ‘Lahore Clean Air Commission’was formed by the Punjab High Court in2005. the LCAC, apart from negotiatingwith the OeM’s the time frame for intro-duction of european vehicle emissionstandards also proposed:

immediate ban on registration of 2-stroke auto/motorcycle rickshawsPhasing out of existing rickshaws in oneyear. introduction of dedicated CnGbuses for public transport conforming toeuro-iii standards Phasing out of exist-ing buses in two years i.e. by 1-7-2007.

the effect of this initiative of LCAC cannow be felt by any visitor to the city of La-hore especially in those areas where non-CnG auto rickshaws are not allowed. inthe urban centre of Karachi, and parts ofthe country where air quality was deterio-rating at fast pace due to pollution from

old model petrol vehicles and two strokeAuto rickshaws, environment conditionsare much cleaner than before.this contri-bution of CnG towards the better health ofthe urban masses needs to be acknowl-edged and quantifies in monitory terms.

the present policy makers intend to re-place CnG as a vehicle fuel with LPG prima-rily on the pretext that natural gas is in shortsupply. An artificial shortage has been cre-ated in winter months by releasing naturalgas to industries on 12 months basis withwhom snGPL had a nine month supplyagreement. this is being done by vested ele-ments to promote the interest of a powerfulLPG group without even considering thesafety or economic aspects of LPG as a vehi-cle fuel and its large scale availability and ef-fect on forests due to non availability of LPGin the far flung areas of the country.

From the vehicle owner’s prospec-tive the attraction for CnG is nOt its en-vironment impact, but its cost viz-a-vizpetrol and diesel. it is this differential inthe operating cost of a vehicle that is thedriving force to opt for CnG. the priceof LPG being a couple of per cent lessthan that of petrol, or sometimes evenhigher has no attraction for the con-sumers. Discontinuing the use of CnG asa vehicle fuel will only add to the eco-nomic worries of the government that

will have to spend a couple of billion dol-lars more to import additional quantitiesof petrol and diesel because of capacityconstraints of the local refineries.

IMPACT OF CNG INVESTMENT

the decision by the government willadversely affect hundreds of thousandsof workers directly and indirectly. Busi-ness investment in the sector currentlyexceeds rs108b, with foreign investmentelement of rs2b, public investment ofrs120b, revenue contribution ofrs240b/annum and savings in petrol es-timated at rs222b/annum.

CNG CONSUMPTION

We appreciate the Govts desire toconserve natural Gas and to ensure itscontinued availability for other prioritysectors. However, transport is account-ing only 7.7per cent, out of which the gasconsumption of new vehicles is estimatedto be as low as 0.38per cent of total natu-ral gas consumption in Pakistan.

Source Pakistan Energy Book 2010pubished by M.O. Pet. & NR

The curious case of CNG conversion ban

PRO 22-01-2012_Layout 1 1/22/2012 2:38 AM Page 3