The Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum, stressing the need of legislation for strengthening CSR initiative on Monday, urged Pak Arab Refinery Company (PARCO) to expand its social investment portfolio for welfare and development of the people.
The Senate Body met here with Senator Umer Farooq in chair and Senators Qurat-ul-Ain Marri, Jam Saifullah Khan, Rana Mehmood ul-Hassan, Mir Dostain Khan Domki and Amir Waliuddin Chishti; MNA Agha Rafiullah, Managing Director PARCO Irteza Ali Qureshi and senior officers of relevant ministries and PARCO in attendance.
The committee members stressed on enhancing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to an appropriate ratio of the profit of the company in accordance with the voluntary guidelines of SECP which encourage voluntary allocation of a proportion of company’s profit -preferably 1% to 2%- for CSR initiatives.
Senator Qurat-ul-Ain Marri underscored the need of legislation on fixing a minimum benchmark for allocation of CSR funds by the companies, saying ‘we are living in a poverty ridden country and corporate entities earning billions should realize their social responsibilities and contribute in the noble cause of development and welfare of the people.
Though social responsibility requires a greater allocation, the companies should take further measures to at least meet the proposed SECP guidelines in this regard, Senator Amir Waliuddin Chishti added.
The committee was briefed that PARCO has spent over Rs 1.2 billion in CSR initiative in Health, Education, Empowerment and Infrastructure support sectors during the last 5 years, touching 6.4 million lives in various localities in the vicinity of PARCO installations in Sindh and Punjab provinces. Currently 0.5 to 0.6% of the profit has been spent on CSR and it will be increased to 1% in the coming year, the MD PARCO assured.
The committee was briefed on various administrative, financial and operational matters including refining capacity, utilization and domestic demand of refined petroleum products, key challenges and future projects as well as CSR measures undertaken in the last 5 years particularly in local communities near refinery and pipeline routes.
The committee was informed that the estimated national demand of different petroleum products is 16.5 mmt and 65% of it is being met with domestic supply with 10.5 mmt local production and 7.8 mmt imports.
PARCO is operating a Mid Country Refinery that refined 45% products of the refined fuel market during FY25, cross country network of pipelines covering 2000 km starting from Karachi up to Machike near Lahore, storage facilities, and direct and retail marketing operations across the country.
The committee was also briefed about measures taken for reduction in line losses, protection of pipeline, monitoring of tank lorries and outlets, nomination of board members, and other matters.