ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Federal Minister for Energy Power and Petroleum Muhammad Ali has said the government has decided to take concrete measures to bring down electricity tariffs for industries.
While talking to a private television channel on Tuesday, the minister said that the caretaker government was planning to accomplish some major tasks ahead of the general election as the caretaker setup has just a few weeks to do so.
“We are trying to slash electricity tariff for industries as there would be a dearth of jobs and exports unless the industry runs and the country couldn’t function properly if it lacked dollars,” the minister said.
Ali further said that the government was trying hard to bring the circular debt down, adding that efforts are also being made to decrease the urea prices, which were too high in recent times.
Challenges to Export Industry
The export industry of the country faces turbulence due to the challenging economic quagmire, as its office bearers urged the government last month to lower wheeling charges for using the national grid’s power transmission and distribution infrastructure.
Already indulged in a high tariff of 14 cents per unit, the industry had sought to transition to a competitive trading bilateral contract market (CTBCM) regime to enable them to purchase electricity from independent power producers (IPPs) at reasonable prices.
According to the media reports, on October 12, the World Bank (WB) echoed its commitment to assist power sector reforms in Pakistan, aimed at getting rid of mounting circular deb.
The bank pledged to provide a comprehensive privatization template to the country aimed at advancing the privatization process of the Power Distribution Companies (Discos).
