Punjab industries: rise in line losses, less revenue causing extra loadshedding

Increase in line losses and reduction in revenue collection have resulted into depleted coffers and there is no money to pay the oil marketing companies and fetch required quantity of furnace oil to generate power. According to the data available with Business Recorder, the line losses have reached to 18.6 percent against the standard 13.5 percent, set by the NEPRA and this increase of five percent in line losses means a revenue loss of Rs 50 billion.
Further, reduction in revenue losses by 15 percent has caused a revenue loss of about Rs 170 billion and the cumulative impact comes over Rs 200 billion. The Ministry of Water and Power has, therefore, increased industrial load shedding to 10 hours a day on Wednesday against earlier eight hours a day, a situation which has led to closure of two shifts in textile industry throughout the Punjab.
The power sector experts have apprehended a negative impact of the situation, saying that the textile industry on independent feeders is the only consumer paying heavy revenue to Discos besides maintaining zero line losses. An increase in industrial load shedding will also force the textile millers to lay off workers at large, they added.
Interestingly, the ministry has decided to increase industrial load shedding when the government is repeating claiming of adding some 1700MW electricity to the system during last one and a half years. APTMA Chief S M Tanveer has taken strong exception of the situation and apprehended that the situation may get out of control in case the industry workers decided to come on streets.