No loadshedding being carried out in country, Tarar tells NA

Islamabad: The National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that no load shedding was being carried out in the country on account of generation shortfall.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Nazeer Tarar told the Lower House during question hour that the DISCOs are carrying out load management in their areas based on the losses of feeders. He said that feeders with losses of up to twenty per cent are exempted from outages. He said smart meters will be installed on transformers in the first phase to check power pilferage.

The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs told the house that the Private Power and Infrastructure Board is actively pursuing the promotion and development of Alternative and Renewable Energy technologies for power generation in line with the government's vision to diversify the energy mix.

He said a total of fifty-eight Alternative and Renewable Energy based projects of 3837 megawatts cumulative capacity are operational. These include 1845 megawatts of wind power projects.

Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik pointed out that the indigenous gas reserves are depleting. He said the government is taking measures to improve supplies which include awarding new blocks for oil and gas exploration and import of LNG. He said a package has been prepared to encourage domestic and international companies for offshore exploration of oil and gas. He said the oil and gas exploration companies have also been directed to optimize the existing resources.

Responding to a Calling Attention Notice, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said the government is taking steps to bring improvement in the electricity transmission system.

He said the Prime Minister regularly takes briefings on the steps being taken by K-Electric and other DISCOs to improve their capacity. He said K-Electric is planning to install 220 megawatts of solar and wind power projects, which will help resolve problems, faced by the residents of Karachi. 

Responding to a point, Parliamentary Secretary for Overseas Pakistanis Ehsan-ul-Haq Bajwa said eight hundred and sixty thousand Pakistanis were legally sent abroad last year for employment.