ECC approves incentive package for new oil refineries

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) Friday approved a landmark incentive package for setting up modern new Deep Conversion Oil Refinery Projects, anywhere in the country, including expansion of existing refineries of minimum 100,000 barrels per day capacity.The decision aimed at attracting investment in the country, came at the meeting of the ECC chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi here at the Prime Minister Office.The package would also be applicable to PARCO Coastal Refinery project (PCR) and comes with a 20-year income tax holiday. It would include exemption from all duties, taxes, surcharges and levies on import, by the refinery project, its contractors or any other persons. It would be applicable on all machinery, vehicles, plant and equipment, other materials and spares and consumables for setting up, operation, maintenance and repair of the refinery.The package also includes exemption from withholding tax and all other duties, taxes, surcharges, levies and import relating to foreign contractors, subcontractors and their personnel in connection with engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operation, maintenance and repair of the refinery. Sales Tax and Excise Duty on supply of locally manufactured building and construction of material, equipment and service for setting up of the refinery would also be exempted.The meeting decided that the new refinery projects would be given a pricing mechanism which shall be no less favorable than the prevailing mechanism. The new projects would also be facilitated in project infrastructure such as Single Point Mooring (SPM), jetties, sub-sea, land pipelines etc. The package also grants waiver to applicable Development Surcharge on the value of exports under the EPZA Rules 1981 in case the refinery project is set up in the Export Processing Zone.This decision would facilitate establishment of modern new refineries in any part of the country and would ensure sustained supply of petroleum products to various parts of the country at affordable prices, besides reducing the import bill of petroleum products.