The use of diesel and petrol in the electric generation has been increased up to five and two percent respectively of the total consumption. The additional use of diesel and petrol for the electricity generation is also pushing the import bill, while the power so produced will cost three times more to the users as compared to that of Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda).
The increasing import bill was not only aggravating the trade deficit, but was also adding the cost of production, said Pakistan Industrial and Traders Front Association Chairman Mian Abuzar Shad while talking to Business Recorder here on Monday.
He said the country was presently facing worst ever electricity load shedding in the urban and rural areas because of widening gap between the demand and supply that forced the domestic consumers, shopkeepers, medical shop owners, and industrialists, having installed electric generators of different capacity. "The use of generators in the industrial units is also making them economically enviable due to increase in cost of production," he added.
The industrial units, which could produce in batches, could afford load shedding, but the textile, paper, plastic, chemical and other units, which needed uninterrupted supply of electricity, were constrained to install electric generators, he said.
Similarly, the farmers were also converting their tube-wells from electricity to diesel pumps to ensure continuous flow of water for the irrigation, he said, adding that when a farmer switched on the electricity to run his tube-well, the electricity went off soon after an hour because of the load shedding and the required water could not reach his farm.
He said such an irritating situation was forcing the farmers' community to go for diesel pumps for irrigation, which would eventually add the input cost of the agriculture produce. He said the use of generators was not only pushing the oil consumption up, but was also augmenting the generators import to further increase burden on the national economy as well as the country's foreign exchange reserves.
He urged the government to allow duty-free import of the machinery for the erection of small hydropower stations to induce private entrepreneurs and the Wapda should be legally bound to purchase electricity from them.
He said that because of increasing trade deficit, the local currency was facing depreciation. The government, to deal with the situation, should direct the electricity distribution companies to manage electricity load in consultation with the industry people, he said.
He also demanded of the government to declare alternate weekly holiday for different cities and areas. Apart from this, there must be continuous supply of electricity for six-seven hours in the rural areas, enabling the farmers to properly irrigate their fields, he proposed.