Water and Power Minister Liaqat Ali Jatoi said on Thursday the country has sufficient electricity to meet the needs of consumers and action would be taken against unannounced load-shedding. In an interview to a private television channel, he said a huge investment is being made to improve production and distribution network in the country.
During the tenure of the present government, 678 new grid stations have so far been installed and the process is going on, he said, adding during the expansion and revamping process power breakdowns in certain areas are natural phenomena. Otherwise no load-shedding is being done on the ground of power shortage, he said.
To a question, Jatoi said the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) has been privatised and the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) is providing maximum electricity to the KESC.
The provision of electricity through Hubco transmission line would commence from May 15 and power shortage issue in Karachi would be addressed to some extent. However, the solution to this issue is expansion of production network for which the government is committed to playing its role, he said.
Jatoi said the KESC has been asked to restore the 200 MW Bin Qasim Power Plant which is presently closed.
He said the government is exploring all options to enhance power generation to meet growing domestic demand vis-a-vis enhanced economic activity.