ISLAMABAD-The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet yesterday (Wednesday) directed Petroleum Division to supply indigenous gas to urea fertiliser plants till 31st May, 2023 to meet the urea requirement in the country for Kharif 2023.
The ECC meeting was chaired by Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar. ECC considered and deliberated on the summary submitted by Ministry of Industries and Production on urea fertilizer requirement for Kharif 2023. The Ministry presented details on the demand, production and domestic production gap of urea fertilizer in the country for Kharif 2023 season. Setting aside the option of importing the urea fertilizer, the ECC decided and directed Petroleum Division to supply indigenous gas to urea fertilizer plants till 31st May, 2023 to meet the urea requirement in the country for Kharif 2023.
Earlier, the federal government had constituted a committee for consider to allocate indigenous gas to two fertilizer plants, namely Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited (FFCL) and Agritech Limited, to produce urea locally in order to reduce reliance on imports. The two fertilizer plants did not previously have allocation of indigenous gas and had, therefore, been running on LNG when the government demanded increased production of urea to meet local demand.
The government had been providing LNG at discounted rates to the two fertilizer plants to cut the cost of urea production, however, the country has been facing a shortage of LNG due to unavailability of product in the international market in wake of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The ECC had directed that a committee be constituted under the chairmanship of former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to determine viable options of providing indigenous gas to the said fertiliser plants. The committee comprised of the minister of state for petroleum and secretaries of the Petroleum Division, Power Division, Ministry of Industries and Production, and the Ministry of National Food Security and Research. The committees deliberated on the issue of supply of indigenous system gas to the two plants and submit viable recommendations thereon for ECC’s consideration.
Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Syed Murtaza Mahmud, Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, MNA/Ex-PM, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha, SAPM on Government Effectiveness Dr. Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan, federal secretaries and other senior officers attended the meeting.
