Latest news with #Rs129
Express Tribune
23-06-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Centre plotting against K-P govt: CM
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Monday said that the provincial government was a trust bestowed by the PTI's patron-in-chief, Imran Khan, warning that if directed, he would dissolve the provincial assembly without a moment's hesitation. Addressing the K-P Assembly, Gandapur said that the events of May 9 were merely used as a pretext for launching a full-blown assault on the PTI. "All forces have been bent on eliminating the party and its leader," he alleged, adding that those who abandoned the incarcerated party chairman were nothing short of "cowards and dishonourable". He went on to accuse the federal government of conspiring to topple the K-P government through the imposition of a financial emergency. However, he warned that the province would not allow such schemes to succeed. He shared that the parliamentary party and political committee have granted his government approval to pass the provincial budget, adding that it will implement changes in the budget without delay upon Imran's directives. Gandapur also accused the establishment of orchestrating PTI's ouster from power through a carefully crafted conspiracy. He lamented that constitutional provisions were violated and elections were deliberately delayed to sabotage the party's position. "Before the February 8 general elections, our chairman was arrested, and the party was deprived of its electoral symbol," the chief minister said. "Despite all these political injustices, the public handed us a clear mandate, but that mandate was stolen in the Centre and in three provinces." Commenting on the financial crisis his government inherited, Gandapur noted that the provincial treasury contained barely enough funds to pay 15 days of salaries when his government took over. However, through sound fiscal policies, the province's revenue has now surpassed Rs93 billion, and is projected to reach Rs129 billion in the next fiscal year. The chief minister further revealed that Rs150 billion in cash reserves remain in the province's debt servicing account, generating Rs60 million in daily income. The throw-forward liability of K-P has been reduced from 13 years to just over five years, he added. "Those who hold sway over the country left no stone unturned in pushing this province towards insolvency and chaos," Gandapur claimed. He said that despite their best efforts, they had not been allowed to meet Imran Khan, and alleged that the budget approval process was being obstructed to pave the way for a federal takeover of provincial authority under the guise of a financial emergency. "We will never let this conspiracy succeed," he said. "The provincial budget is being passed as per the PTI's parliamentary and political committee's decision, but if the chairman wants anything added or removed, it will be done immediately."
Time of India
04-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Miraj Cord Line project worth 129cr approved
Kolhapur: Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has approved the Miraj Cord Line (1.73 km) project for Central Railway, with an allocated cost of Rs129 crore. This initiative aims to improve rail connectivity and freight efficiency in the region. The project falls under the Multi Tracking/Flyover/Bypass Line Capacity Enhancement policy, designed to streamline rail operations at Miraj Junction. Miraj is a significant interchange point, connecting key routes such as Miraj-Pune, Miraj-Kolhapur, Miraj-Pandharpur, and Miraj-Londa. Kishor Bhorawat, a member of the Central Railway Mumbai Regional Advisory Committee, said, "Currently, trains traveling from Kurduwadi or Hubballi towards Kolhapur experience delays at Miraj, often ranging from 30 minutes to an hour, due to engine or brake van reversals. The proposed Cord Line will eliminate these operational delays, thereby enhancing overall network efficiency." This development is considered a crucial step in strengthening Western Maharashtra's railway infrastructure, promising more efficient movement of both freight and passenger trains.
Business Recorder
03-06-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Advisor highlights agri output decline
PESHAWAR: Advisor to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Finance and Inter-Provincial Coordination, Muzzammil Aslam stated that according to the federal government, there has been a 15% decline in the production of major crops, which includes a 30% decline in cotton production alone. As a result, an additional five billion dollars will need to be spent on cotton imports. Similarly, due to the drop in wheat production, 3 billion dollars will be spent on wheat imports. Overall, the decrease in agricultural output will force Pakistan to import goods worth $10 billion, representing a loss of Rs2,800 billion to the country and its farmers. He said the government had claimed that the inflation rate was 4.5% or 4.7%, but it is now admitting that inflation will rise to 7.5% next year. Muzzammil Aslam noted that Pakistan's GDP this year was Rs114 trillion, and next year it's expected to increase to Rs129 trillion. Despite this, only Rs1 trillion has been allocated for development expenditures and the federal government is not launching any new projects. Likewise, no new projects have been allocated to the provinces. Of the Rs1 trillion development budget, Rs120 billion is from savings that were not provided as fuel subsidies, which are being used to build roads in Balochistan. This means that the actual Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) is only Rs880 billion. He further stated that under the 'Uraan Pakistan' programme, discussions were held on sports, water, and the environment, and Rs65 billion was initially allocated to higher education. This has now been slashed to Rs45 billion without any consultation with the provinces. Muzzammil Aslam pointed out that the government had earlier said that projects which are more than 75% complete would be prioritized, yet two road projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that were over 90% complete have been deleted, which he called a clear injustice and raised during today's meeting. He questioned, 'If the government claims inflation is being brought down to 1%, why is the interest rate still at 11%.' He said that Rs2 to 2.5 trillion in savings from interest payments this year should be redirected to development projects but it is not happening. He said that according to the Planning Ministry, 118 development projects have been scrapped, while the government is claiming that the growth rate will be 4.2% next year, with inflation at 7.5%. Exports will not increase significantly, but imports will rise, and $39.5 billion in remittance has been estimated. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
24-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
PAC body seeks special audit of training funds
Listen to article The chairman of the sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed auditors to conduct a special audit of training funds amounting to millions of dollars to ascertain their alleged misuse. The sub-committee met under the chairmanship of Convener Syed Naveed Qamar at the Parliament House. The chairman lashed out at the Petroleum Division over the misuse of training funds. He said that officials spent the money on their trip to Rome with their wives while ignoring the plight of children living near oil and gas exploration fields. The issue was taken up while discussing the audit para relating to the utilisation of training funds by Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL). Auditors said that OGDCL had a training fund of $584,000 but it utilised only 5%. OGDCL Managing Director Ahmad Hayat Lak challenged the claim, saying that the company had disbursed half of the money to the DG petroleum concessions and utilised more than half of the funds on the local and external training of officials. While discussing the audit para pertaining to strategic storages, Lak said that the storages helped the company to store oil at a time when Attock Refinery had shut down. He said that those storages were even used to store oil from other fields in the country. The sub-body settled almost all audit paras relating to OGDCL. While discussing audit paras concerning Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), sub-committee Chairman Naveed Qamar questioned the unaccounted-for-gas (UFG) benchmark set by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). He criticised the regulator for setting an unrealistic benchmark. The auditors pointed out that SSGC had consistently faced a 17% UFG, which put a burden of Rs90 billion on consumers while causing another loss of Rs129 billion over the past few years. SSGC Managing Director Amin Rajput clarified that the company had achieved a milestone by reducing the UFG in recent years, which stood at 10.56% in 2023-24 compared to 13% in the previous year. He stressed that the company had been able to curtail the UFG level despite high losses in Balochistan where several cases of meter tempering were detected. Regarding liquefied natural gas (LNG) swap, the MD said that the issue had been resolved between SSGC and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) as both companies had signed a settlement agreement. SSGC has paid SNGPL Rs20 billion whereas the remaining Rs11 billion will be released in installments.
Express Tribune
08-02-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Salaried class likely to pay Rs570b in taxes
ISLAMABAD: The federal government is likely to further increase the tax burden on salaried individuals, with total tax collection from this segment expected to reach Rs570 billion in the ongoing fiscal year 2024-25. This means that the salaried class will pay 55% more tax compared to the previous year. According to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), salaried individuals contributed Rs368 billion in taxes last year, while Rs243 billion has already been collected in the first six months of the current fiscal year. This marks a 300% increase in tax collection from employees compared to the first six months of the previous year. The FBR data shows that five years ago, annual tax collection from the salaried class stood at Rs129 billion. In 2019-20, it was Rs129 billion, rising to Rs152 billion in 2020-21, and further increasing to Rs189 billion in 2021-22. In 2022-23, tax collection from salaried employees surged to Rs264 billion. The salaried class has now become the third-largest tax-paying sector.
