ISLAMABAD: The government has decided that K-Electric tariff should be increased in phases to bring it at par with other parts of the country, and to look for a sustainable solution of gas price issue through a further consultation process.

A meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan on K-Electric tariff and on gas price issues on Thursday, which discussed both the issues in-depth.

While discussing the issue of KE tariff increase, the meeting was informed that on the recommendations of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) power tariff was increased across the country in January except KE's tariff.

The meeting was further informed that the government had been providing Rs3 to Rs4 billion monthly subsidy on KE tariff for not making it uniform with the rest of the country.

Upon learning these facts, the meeting decided to place all the facts with regard to KE before people and also decided that the KE tariff should be increased in phases to bring it at par, while at the same time ensuring that additional burden was not passed on to people in one go.

On the issue of gas prices, the meeting was informed that domestic gas production was insufficient to meet the domestic demands, and gap was being bridged through import whose price was considerably high compared to locally-produced gas.

Additionally, only 27 percent people have been using local pipeline gas at cheap rate, while a major chunk of the population has been using LPG cylinder gas, which was relatively expensive.

After discussion and briefing on gas issue, the prime minister directed that in order to provide relief to the LPG consumers, comprehensive planning should be done and look for a collective and sustainable strategy on gas issue after detailed consultation.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020