Industry, CNG stations to observe 2 holidays a week

ISLAMABAD Predicting high consumption of gas in the winter, the Federal Cabinet has approved gas load management plan from November 15 to March 15.
Addressing a press conference here Wednesday, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said that the gas supply to commercial and domestic consumers would continue without any suspension, while industry and CNG stations would observe two holidays a week due to low supply of the gas.
The decision has been made under compulsion, the minister said, adding that the industry would have to find alternate ways to meet its energy needs while CNG stations would be closed two days a week. He said all the gas supply companies had been directed to ensure its implementations, besides an area-wise plan had been issued. He further said that new industrial and CNG connections would not be given in the days of acute shortage (December 2009-Feb 2010). In the first phase, 25,000 gadgets costing Rs. 600 each would be installed from February 2010 to save gas and it is expected that they would save 28 to 60 percent gas, he added.
Kaira said that a committee had also been formed to prepare a plan to run the industry on alternate sources. Balochistan and other gas producing areas of the country would be exempted from this decision, he added.
The minister said that the Federal Cabinet also approved Sugar Policy 2009-10, which imposed ban on the export of gur, besides allowing the Government to import 500,000 tonnes of raw sugar and a same amount of refined sugar to meet the domestic needs. He said that present need of sugar in the country was about 4.2 million tonnes per year but the local production was estimated at 3 million tonnes.
He said raw and refined sugar would be imported to meet the deficit of 1.2 million tonnes, adding Government would maintain 500,000 tonnes strategic reserves of sugar for market intervention as and when required. The Government, he said, has a stock of 168,000 tonnes of sugar, adding there was no shortage of the commodity in the country. He said that the crushing season would commence in Punjab from November 15. He said sugar mills had also been asked to run their powerhouses round the year to contribute energy to the national grid system.
However, the cabinet deferred the decisions relating to governments austerity drive due to shortage of time. He added that a meeting would be held within the next few days to discuss the issues including two holidays in a week.
Talking about the policy for the procurement of paddy crop that the Cabinet approved, he said that the government had set the price of Irri-6 paddy crop at Rs. 600 per 40 kilograms, paddy-385 at Rs. 1,000 and Basmati at Rs. 1,250 per 40 kg. PASSCO has been directed to procure 1 million tonnes of paddy crop for which, the minister said, 100 centres will be functional within the next two days. The country has a surplus of 576 million tonnes of paddy crop to export.
To a question on NRO, Kaira said that the Government would assess the situation after November 28.
The chief ministers and chief secretaries of all the four provinces also attended the cabinet meeting.