ISLAMABAD: The federal government has appointed new independent directors for nine power Distribution Companies (Discos) with one independent director as Chairman of Board of three Discos, aimed at expeditious approvals of their sell-off plans, well-informed sources told Business Recorder.
At a recent meeting presided over by the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif it was decided that Discos, IESCO, Gepco and FESCO shall be offered for complete privatisation in phase-1 whereas LESCO, MEPCO and HAZECO shall be offered for complete privatisation in phase-II.
The SEPCO, HESCO, and PESCO shall be offered for long-term concession agreement to the private sector, whereas TESCO and QESCO will be retained for the time being under government control considering their peculiar conditions.
Reconstitution of Discos’ boards: CCoSOEs approves Power Division’s proposal
Privatisation Commission is tasked to initiate the process of hiring of transaction advisor and complete other formalities as per process to complete phase-1 transaction for privatisation and outsourcing of three Discos through concessions by January 2026.
Power Division is to engage technical advisor to assist for review of existing regulatory and policy structure for completion of the process of privatisation and outsourcing of Discos.
According to Power Division during Financial Year-2023-24, it is apprehended that Discos may make a loss of around Rs. 589 billion which includes under recovery and loss above NEPRA’s threshold.
Amer Zia, recently retired as Chief Distribution Officer at K-Electric, remained associated with USAID for three years, besides doing a project with the World Bank has been appointed by the incumbent government as Chairman of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) and Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO).
According to the documents available with Business Recorder, the names of independent directors of IESCO will be as follows: (i) Amer Zia (independent director/Chairman; (ii) Syed Ali Murtaza; (iii) Dr. Amir Matin; (iv) Dr. Tahir Masood; and (v) Amna Abbas. Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), appointments include: Amer Zia (independent director/Chairman; (ii) Zafar Mahmood; (iii) Zoe Khurshid Khan; and (iv) Asad Shafi.
Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO): (i) Amer Zia (Independent Director/Chairman); (ii) Imran Zafar; (iii) Zainab Janjua; and (iv) Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi.
The names of independent directors of Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) are: (i) Dr. Tahir Masood (Independent Director/Chairman); (ii) Imran Zafar; (iii) Zoe Khurshid Khan; (iv) Ilyas Ahmad; and (v) Muhammad Siddiq.
The new independent directors of Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) are: (i) Imran Zafar (Independent director/Chairman); (ii) Zoe Khurshid Khan;(iii) Engineer, Pervaiz Iqbal; and ( iv) Omer Farooq Khan.
The team of independent directors of Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) will be as follows: (i) Mahfooz Ali Khan (independent director/chairman); (ii) former CEO QESCO, Rehmatullah Baloch; (iii) Tahir Rasheed ;(iv) Roshan Khursheed Bharucha; and ( v) Ahmed ur Rehman.
The Boards of Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO) and Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) will comprised of: (i) Javed Kureishi (independent director/chairman); (ii) Sohail Anwar; (iii) Sadia Haroon ;(iv) Amna Zaheer Ahmed; and (v) Umar Farooq Shah.
The Boards of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco), Tribal Areas Electric Supply Company (TESCO) and Hazara Electric Supply Company (Hazeco) will be as follows: (i) Ali Gulfraz (independent director; (ii) Tahir Ali Khan; (iii) Fazal-e-Khaliq; (iv) Saima Akbar Khattak; and (v) Saud Azam.
The former caretaker Minister for Power and Petroleum, Muhammad Ali announced reconstitution of Discos Boards but failed to accomplish the task due to resistance from quarters wanting to retain those boards until after general elections.
The sources said, like Amer Zia, a couple of other independent directors have also been given representation on multiple boards. A senior official of Power Division confirmed that the Cabinet Committee on State Owned Enterprises (CCoSOEs) has cleared the names of new independent directors and chairmen however, this decision is yet to be ratified by the Federal Cabinet.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024