Federal Secretary Ministry of Energy (Power Division) on Tuesday said that a Saudi power company, ACWA Power, had started working on installing solar power plants in Balochistan. Secretary Power Division Irfan Ali while briefing the subcommittee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which met here under the chairmanship of Senator Shibli Faraz, said the government had finalised a plan to eradicate the circular debt problem by the end of 2020.
The officials further said that transmission losses in Balochistan were high owing to far-flung areas. The officials said the government was also considering to introduce a new power distribution company in Azad Jammu and Kashmir to reduce line losses, saying that in Kashmir line losses were also too high as compared with rest of the country.
According to officials, the Saudi power producing company ACWA Power in February 2019 has expressed willingness to invest around $4 billion in Pakistan's renewable energy sector. Headquartered in Riyadh, ACWA Power is a developer, investor, co-owner and operator of a portfolio of power generation and desalinated water production plants currently with presence in 10 countries in Middle East and North Africa, Southern Africa and South East Asia regions.
The officials said the ministry in collaboration with all the relevant departments was making all-out efforts to eliminate circular debt for which the drive had been initiated at various levels. Theft control drive was launched in late October 2018 and started showing results in December 2018. Collection improved by Rs 61 billion for the period November 2018 to March 2019 as compared to the same period last year, they added.
Shibli Faraz said that circular debt had eaten up a large potion of country's growth and it had made Pakistani economy hostage, saying the government must take all necessary steps to eliminate the menace.
Secretary Irfan Ali said that up to January 2019 of the ongoing financial year, circular debt had witnessed an increase of Rs 319 billion. He added that after the June 2019 the flow of circular debt as a result of the government's ongoing drive would significantly reduce and by the end 2020 it would become zero.
The secretary added that the ministry was finalising a power transmission plan up to 2040 with main focus on minimising transmission and line losses so that circular debt could not emerge in future.
The officials said the government was taking a number of measures to minimise transmission and line losses including increase in power tariff, reducing power subsidies, eliminating corruption within department and controlling power theft.