Govt saved Rs1.1tr through talks with IPPs: Awais Leghari

Islamabad: Minister for Power Division Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari on Thursday said that the government has saved Rs 1.1 trillion through negotiations with Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

 

Addressing at the concluding ceremony of the 4th International Hydropower Conference jointly organised by Energy Updates with the collaboration of the Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB), WAPDA and other stakeholders, the minister said that the government and IPPs mutually renewed the contracts in the interest of Pakistan.

He said that people could not longer afford to pay the electricity bills and the government was going to revamp the entire power sector.  “We are also restructuring  National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC),” he added.

 

Elaborating, the government reforms in power sector, he said that there has been a significant reduction in the losses of distribution companies. From July to November 2023, these losses amounted to Rs 223 billion, which decreased to Rs 170 billion during the same period in 2024, he said.

 

He said out of total 10 Board of Directors (BoDs) of Power Distribution Companies (DISCOs), eight have been completely revamped and not a single induction was made on political basis.

 

He said that the government was reviewing various taxes included in electricity bills to provide maximum relief to the consumers. Terming uniform tariff for the entire country as major challenge, he said transfer the burden of one company to another is unfair, he said.

He said a competitive electricity market will be launched in March, where market forces would determine power tariff, and the government would play only a facilitating role.

The minister said that the demand for solar solutions was increasing due to the high cost of electricity. An additional 10,000 to 12,000 MW is likely to be added to the system under net metering in the country.

 

He said that he had introduced the net metering in 2017 in the country. However, he said that the net metering was enjoying by elite class. The high cost of electricity has brought a solar energy revolution in the country, he added.

 

The K-Electric has sought Rs 10 per unit increase in the tariff from the power regulator but according to the government calculation, the increase should be only Rs 1 per unit.  The government was committed to protecting the consumers interests and would not allow additional burdens on them, he added.

 

He went on to say that the government has challenged the status quo in the energy sector in the last 9 months. “We are also assessing whether major projects like the Basha Dam and nuclear power are feasible for us or not,” he said.

No one could deny the importance of water storage of Diamer Basha dam as it will not only help flood mitigation but also store water for agriculture, he said. However, he said that whether we could afford $ 3 billion cost on power transmission from the dam.

 

Awais Leghari said that people will also witness a revolution in battery storage in the near future.

 

Stressing the need for necessary decisions for sustainable development in the energy sector, the minister said the government was taking every possible measure to facilitate the public.