Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf has said that government may increase power tariff in future due to financial constraints, as the country is unable to bear the financial burden of Rs 250 billion per annum in power sector due to gap between cost of power generation and cost of service provision.
While addressing a workshop on "Power Sector Reforms" and later talking to journalists, the minister said that reforms in power sector were inevitable to enhance the performance of power distribution companies by reducing their line losses.
He said that country would require 0.1 million MW electricity during next ten years. "We want reforms in power sector to ensure smooth supply of electricity," he said, adding that we have no alternative arrangements of electricity supply. He said that the past government had not raised power tariff from 2003 to 2007, which resulted in financial woes for energy sector. He maintained that 2.8 million Wapda employees were getting electricity free of cost.
Raja Pervez Ashraf said that economy had suffered a loss due to power load shedding. "Pakistan Electricity Power Company (Pepco) has been dissolved to grant administrative and financial autonomy to power distribution companies (discos)," he added. He maintained that performance of IESCO, LESCO, FEESCO and GEPCO was better. However, the performance of other distribution companies is not well.
He added that war against terror and law and order situation were also destroying the economy of the country. "We are facing difficulty to get gas from thermal power generation and power plants are being operated on fuel resulting in costlier electricity," he said, adding that we are moving towards reforms. Ministrial level committee had been formed following the directions of Prime Minister to oversee process of reforms in power sector.
He said government would also protect the employees of distribution companies after granting them autonomy. "The administration of discos is being changed due to unsatisfactory performance," he said. Deputy chairman Planning Commission Dr Nadeem-ul-Haq said that small meters in power sector would be installed to check power theft.
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