Industrial sector: FCCI chief asks Prime Minister to reduce power tariff immediately

President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) Engineer Rizwan Ashraf said on Friday that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should immediately direct Ministry of Water and Power to reduce electricity tariff especially for industrial sector to give a kick-start to the dampened industrial activities and help private sector to create new job opportunities in addition to enhancing national exports.
He said that in May 2014, generation cost of electricity was Rs 7.2359/kWh which recorded a phenomenal decrease this year and now the cost of energy is Rs 4.7228/kWh. He said that if transmission and distribution losses are also added, the electricity will cost hardly stand around Rs 6 per unit. He said that contrary to the actual price, the industries are paying approximately Rs 14.60 per unit for electricity. He said that this difference is adding to the cost of production and now the major industries have either gone sick or forced to operate at 30-40 percent of their installed capacity.
He welcomed the government's efforts in bringing down the generation cost of electricity but said that government should concentrate on adding cheap hydel electricity to further bring down cost of energy mix in Pakistan. He also pointed out that despite of recent decrease in fuel adjustment charges, the cost of electricity in Pakistan is still highest in the region and we are unable to compete with regional competitors.
While mentioning recent floods he said that situation is favourable to build multi-purpose hydel dams not only to generate electricity at the cheapest price but also provide water to bring millions of acres of barren lands in the country. FCCI chief further said that no doubt government needs revenue to run the state but revenue generation should be affordable and taxes should not be as high to undermine the GDP growth. He said that the cheap electricity is the lifeline of industrial growth and government should come out of the old approach to generate electricity with costly resources.
He also welcomed subsidised markup rate for funds allocated for solar plants and said that this step would not only encourage investors to set up commercial solar plants but would also attract individuals to meet their electricity needs from small domestic solar units.