Withdrawal of 350 megawatts: government, KESC lock horns

Federal government and Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) management have reportedly locked horns over proposed withdrawal of 350 MW electricity being supplied to KESC by National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC), well informed sources told Business Recorder.
Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif chaired a meeting regarding implementation of decision of Council of Common Interest (CCI) and other matters related to KESC. "Federal governments wants to withdraw 350 MW electricity out of 650 MW from KESC system with immediate effect but the KESC management is unwilling to surrender the electricity on the plea that electricity is being purchased from NTDC in accordance with an agreement," the sources added.
The sources said that Water and Power Minister was not ready to accept the arguments, saying that the KESC management should come up with new proposal by Tuesday (today) to resolve the issue. An official statement issued by the Ministry of Water and Power says that a meeting was held on Monday with Khawaja Muhammad Asif Minister for Water and Power in the chair regarding implementation of decision of Council of Common Interest (CCI) and other matters related to KESC. The meeting was also attended by Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, State Minister for Petroleum, Mir Jam Kamal, Secretary Petroleum, MD SSGC, MD KESC and senior officials of the Water and Power and KESC.
The Minister said that early implementation on decision of the CCI would help reduce the load shedding in rest of the country, adding that all the consumers have equal rights and the government is determined to reduce the load shedding at tolerable level. Minister for Petroleum, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi also said that reduction in load shedding duration is top priority of the government and all possible steps would be taken in this regard. MD KESC presented his point of view on the decision of CCI and said that KESC would work together with the government to resolve the energy crises in Pakistan.