ISLAMABAD: The Petroleum Division on Saturday took note of misleading advertisements printed by some newspapers regarding the Supreme Court’s (SC) judgment in the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) Act-2015 case.
“These advertisements have wrongfully presented the SC’s landmark judgment of August 13, 2020 on the GIDC Act 2015,” the Petroleum Division said in a press statement.
The Petroleum Division further said that such advertisements have wrongfully implied that the judgment would negatively affect the national economy and that there is no need to collect the outstanding GIDC as the already collected amount is sufficient to complete gas pipeline projects.
“The advertisements erroneously claim that the North South Gas Pipeline project has already been awarded to another country,” the division said.
The Petroleum Division refuted such stories and said that SC’s judgment is a win-win for both the government and the industry as it gives a timeframe of six months to the government to initiate gas infrastructure development projects by utilising the amount collected under the GIDC Act.
Similarly, the division said that after the SC’s judgment collecting of cess has been stopped until the already collected amount is spent. It further said that it has waived late payment surcharge and allowed 24 monthly installments to the industry for paying back the outstanding amount.
The Petroleum Division further clarified that it is actively considering all options including international joint ventures to launch the North South Gas Pipeline.
