The Sources say Punjab Chief Usman Buzdar will appear before the Commission today to record his statement regarding approval of subsidy to the sugar mills.
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint /Pakistan Point News-May 13th, 2020) The Sugar Inquiry Commission summoned Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to testify approval of subsidy worth Rs. 3 billion to sugar mills owners in 2019.
The Commission directed Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to appear before it on Wednesday (today). The decision was taken after the Sugar Inquiry Commission widened its investigation.
The sources said that the commission decided to summon almost all the decision-makers who were involved in approving subsidies and dealing with the export and import of sugar over the past five years.
“Commission has summoned Punjab Chief Minister Buzdar to record his statement today regarding approval of subsidy to mill owners in 2019,” the sources privy to the development said. The commission wanted his views on the matters regarding sugar subsidy.
Earlier, Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar appeared before the commission to explain decision of Economic Coordination Committee regarding export of sugar in 2018. Asad Umar headed the ECC meeting when the approval for export of sugar was given two years back.
During his appearance before the commission, the planning minister responded to the allegations leveled by former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and requested the commission to summon him.
According to the sources, the commission was likely to ask Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar about approval of subsidy to 24 Punjab Sugar Mills in 2017 and 2019. About Rs. 9.4 billion was releaed in 2017 under the subsidy scheme on exports by former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former Punjab Chief Shehbaz Sharif.
They said Usman Buzdar would be asked about approval of Rs. 2.5 billion for 15 sugar mills out of 24 in Punjab in 2019.
The sources said that Jahangir Khan Tareen was among the sugar mills owners who got benefit of the subsidy approved earlier by the authorities concerned. Tareen received Rs2.3 billion during the PML-N tenure of which JDW took home Rs1.8 billion as freight support on sugar exports from the Punjab and federal governments.
JK Sugar Mills Pvt Ltd received Rs. 5 million from Punjab Chief Minister.
The sources said that Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar who belongs to the ruling party, businessman Chaudhry Munir, PML-Q’s Chaudhry Moonis Elahi received Rs2.8 billion collectively from the federal and Punjab governments as freight support on exports in 2017 and 2019.
The RYK Mills Ltd owned by Khusro Bakhtiar’s family received nearly Rs889 million in 2017 from the Centre and Punjab and almost Rs89 million in 2019 from the Punjab government.
Two units of the Etihad Sugar Mills Ltd, jointly owned by Khusro Bakhtiar’s family and the Chaudhrys, received nearly Rs370 million from the Punjab and federal governments in 2017 and nearly Rs184 million from the Punjab government in 2019, official data revealed.
