ISLAMABAD: Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan said on Monday that the issue with International Monetary Fund (IMF) on period of additional surcharge has not been resolved but is expected to be resolved soon.
Testifying before National Assembly Standing Committee on Power headed by Sardar Raiz Mehmoood Khan Mazari, Power Minister said that IMF has issues with the duration of additional surcharge on Pakistan Holding Limited (PHL) loans due to which program is not being finalized. Additional surcharges will be recovered in the next four to six months, after that only base tariff will be charged, he added.
“We have convinced the IMF to the extent that there will be no change in base tariff,” the Minister said adding that Power Division has some proposals on IMF’s demand that measures should be taken to control flow of circular debt during FY 2023-24 which; however, are yet to be finalized.
The National Assembly Standing Committee was informed that current stock of circular debt stands at Rs 2.6 trillion.
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The Minister said circular debt is not a debt but it is an amount which has piled up due to allocation of fewer subsidies and under-recovery by the Discos.
“IMF is insisting on increase in duration of additional surcharge due to which there is a hurdle in the finalization of the agreement between the government and Fund,” said the Minister.
In reply to a question the Minister said there will be no increase in base tariff as the government has already raised tariff by Rs 7.91 per unit in three phases.
He said, with imposition of additional surcharge, backlog of interest amount of PHL will be cleared in a few months, adding that the government has already filed Motion with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) in this regard.
The additional surcharge will be recovered from consumers using 300 units and above. Power Division, in its petition has sought imposition of additional surcharge of Rs 3.39 per unit from March 1 to June 30, 2023. From 1 July the amount of surcharge will be Rs 1.43 per unit (Re 1 per unit new surcharge and Rs 0.43 per unit existing surcharge). In addition, Power Division has also decided to recover Rs 20 billion from consumers using 300 units and above to recover FCA which was deferred in the flood-hit areas.
Later on, talking to media, the Minister said that there will be power load shedding in the summer but its duration will be lessened compared to the previous year due to addition of 1960-MW electricity from Thar coal. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former President Asif Zardari jointly laid the foundation for these projects.
The Minister briefed the Committee that Thar Matiari Transmission Line will be in operation by April 2023, adding that a cut-out point is being established between South and North to stop blackout of country-wide electricity in future.
The Minister said areas, where the recovery of electricity bills is high, will get more electricity as compared to other areas.
He suggested that the Standing Committee should hold in-camera meeting so that causes of exorbitant load-shedding may be shared with them.
Dastgir acknowledged that governance issues are high in the power sector, adding that improving governance is essential to correct the power sector. He said before the new measures are implemented it is necessary to take public representatives in confidence.
The Minister said the government is to outsource recovery in the five highest loss-making feeders so that recovery can be improved with the participation of private sector, clarifying that privatisation of Discos is not on the cards. At present, consumers who pay their bills are also paying the cost of theft.
“We want bills payers’ not to be punished by paying the bills of power thieves,” Khan maintained.
He said AMI will be installed on connection points of 1,60,000 large electric users which will prevent electricity theft in the industrial sector.
Chairman Standing remarked that Pakistanis are dishonest as a whole and the biggest thief calls the other a thief. He suggested that briefing on theft should be open and not in-camera so that the media and public should be aware of these thieves. He further contended that in areas where theft is high, complaints against load shedding are the loudest.
According to the Minister, private sector will be invited to set up mini solar plants on the premises of rural grid stations which will bring down cost of electricity. He said, first bid of 600-MW solar power plants will be opened on April 17.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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