ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Minister for Commerce, Industries, Interior and Overseas Pakistanis, Gohar Ijaz Saturday said the captive plant-based industry must shift to grid but at the same time electricity prices be fixed at cents 9/kWh instead of cents 14/kWh.

Talking to Business Recorder, he said the government wanted to close down captive generation by Jan 25 aimed at shifting industry load to grid electricity but the electricity prices for industry have to be at regional prices as approved by the SIFC Apex Committee

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“Industry should not be made to subsidise other consumers as it has to be competitive to provide jobs and export products to the world market,” he said adding that in present scenario, the increase in captive prices from cents 10/kWh to cents 12/kWh will lead to closure of industry as industry will lose orders to India Bangladesh and Vietnam where energy prices are less than 9 cents for the industry.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024