Withdrawal demanded: commercial, industrial sectors eating up Rs 50 billion subsidy

Despite availing annual enormous subsidy of Rs 50 billion on electricity, the commercial and industrial sectors seem to be discontent with the government as experts opine that such a facility is irrational suggesting its withdrawal. Out of Rs 250 billion annual subsidy in power sector, Rs 50 billion lands in the commercial and industrial sectors that could instead have been spent on people''s uplift or revenue generation.
The official data reveals that the government provides Rs 1.48 subsidy per unit to the commercial sector and Rs 1.89 per unit to the industrial sector. "Providing subsidy to the domestic and agriculture sectors is logical but extending such facility to the commercial and industrial sectors is of no use," said an expert, terming it merely a burden on the national kitty as well as the people of Pakistan. Currently, as the hydel power production has been reduced owing to ongoing canal dredging, the government is striving to cope with the electricity demand of domestic sector as top priority.
According to an expert, the industrial sector is bound to generate electricity from its own resources for about two months when the domestic consumption of gas catapults in winter season. Instead of producing electricity from their own resources, the industrialists are demanding of the government to provide electricity to fulfil their needs or else they will carry out rightsizing, rendering thousands of workers unemployed.
"What if they reduce their profit ratio slightly by producing electricity from their own generators only in December and January to ensure power supply to people at least for 14 hours a day? But they never do so rather pressure the government to fulfil their irrational demands," the expert regretted. The industrialists reap three-fold subsidy; if they produce power from gas at their own, they supply surplus electric production to the people against higher rates and earn money, he commented.
Even they are not adhering to the government''s assurance of providing them the electricity by January 25 rather they have initiated a malicious campaign against the government claiming of being victimised, he added. The energy expert opined that the government can help bridge energy deficit by withdrawing subsidy from the commercial and industrial sectors and spending the heavy amount somewhere else for productive purpose.
The amount can also be spent on the uplift of power transmission and governance system that causes around 43 percent losses in the power sector, he added. The expert said the energy deficit has also been caused by the unjust distribution of gas forcing the government to use furnace oil for power production that is in no way affordable for the government as well as the consumers.
In 1985, the government used to produce 52 percent of electricity from hydel, 32 percent from gas, 14 percent from oil and rest two percent from other resources. But currently, around 41 percent of power production is coming from furnace oil, 32 percent from hydel, 25 percent from gas and two percent from nuclear. "If the government ensures sufficient gas supply to the power sector, the deficit can be bridged, besides bringing the tariff down," he observed.