Sell-off of Discos, Gencos: Prime Minister tells PC to complete process by next June

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday chaired a meeting on privatisation of Discos & Gencos and the loadshedding management here on Tuesday. The Prime Minister reviewed the roadmap for the privatisation of the Discos and Gencos.
Nawaz while observing that the privatisation process in the energy sector had been much delayed directed the Chairman Privatization Commission to provide a clear roadmap and precise timelines for the privatization of Discos and Gencos in the next meeting in order to complete the entire process of privatisation of Discos and Gencos by June 30, 2015. Chairman Privatization Commission informed the meeting that on April 28, 2011 and February 10, 2014, the Council of Common Interests (CCI) had approved nine Discos and four Gencos for privatisation.
The Prime Minister said: "In view of the keen interest shown by foreign investors in Pakistan, there is no justification for further staggering the privatisation process. The Prime Minister observed, "It is absolutely necessary to privatise Discos and Gencos as soon as possible since there is no other way to cleanse the faltering system." The Prime Minister also reviewed the load shedding management. Theft, losses, pilferage and corruption in the sector had not stopped. The Prime Minister directed Secretary Water and Power Nargis Sethi to actively enquire about scam unearthed by the FIA in which LESCO people were overbilled for about Rs 16 billion. The Prime Minister directed Sethi to also take action against those found involved in Rs 3.2 billion embezzlement in Discos, and to investigate the purchase of transformers at exorbitant rates resulting in billions of rupees losses to the exchequer.
Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif, Secretary Water and Power Nargis Sethi, minister of state for Water & Power Abid Sher Ali, Chairman Privatisation Commission Muhammad Zubair and Chairman Wapda Zafar Mehmood attended the meeting. -PR