Shibli Faraz Says Cheap Electricity Govt’s Top Priority

Special Assistant to PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood has acknowledged that PML-N government overcame the issue of load-shedding.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-August 15^th, 2020) Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz said providing cheap electricity to the consumers on sustainable basis was the top priority of government.

Addressing a news conference along with Special Assistant on Power Shahzad Qasim in Islamabad on Saturday, he said a basic agreement has been signed with Independent Power Producers as a first major step towards providing cheap electricity to the consumers.

The Information Minister regretted that expensive power contracts were signed in the past and it is not possible to undo them unilaterally.

His statement came at the moment when Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood said that PML-N government overcame the issue of load-shedding by establishing new grid stations under the CPEC. He had said that CPEC now was focused on agriculture and industry.

He said expensive electricity was the main concern of Prime Minister Imran Khan and he wanted to address the issue immediately. Hence a team was constituted which held negotiations with the IPPs to revisit the old contracts.

The Information Minister said under the agreement signed with the IPPs, payments will only be made for the electricity acquired and consumed instead of the total installed capacity of a particular power plant.

Similarly, the equity return will now be made in rupee rather than the Dollar like past.

Speaking on the occasion, Special Assistant on Power Shahzad Qasim said under the MoU, late payment interest will be reduced from 4.5 percent to 2 percent.

He said government is making all out efforts to finalize all modalities under the MoU with IPPs in two and a half year.