Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday announced to give fifty percent concession to small industries over the usage of additional electricity from November 1, 2020.
Addressing a press confernce, after a meeting of the federal cabinet held earlier Tuesday, the premier pledged to provide additional power to the small industries on low rates for three years. There will be no peak hour for the industries, he told.
Imran suggested that boosting export sector will surely make Pakistan economically strong. Pakistan has witnessed record sale of cement, cars and motorcycles. However, coronavirus has badly affected service industry as marriage halls, tourism and restaurants were closed for long time period, he added.
The prime minister began his address by explaining that the cost of electricity in the country was expensive because of previous contracts signed for power generation which had adverse effects for the country.
“As soon as we assumed charge, we tried to increase exports. Why did we do that? Because wealth generation is directly related to exports.”
We gave incentives to exporters, the premier said. “After Covid-19, Pakistan is the only country in the subcontinent that has progressed the fastest [in terms of exports]. At the same time, Pakistan has been largely spared of the adverse effects of the pandemic, a fact that has been acknowledged internationally.” He stated that the package would not only increase exports, but would also give a boost to domestic industries.
“We have decided that from November 1, small and medium industries using additional power — as compared to their previous bills — will be provided electricity at 50 per cent of the rate till June 30, 2021.”
For example, if they were buying electricity for Rs16/unit, they will now have to pay Rs8/unit for the additional power they consume, he said, adding that this will be reviewed going forward. “However, all industries will be provided additional power at 25pc of the rate for the next three years.”
He added that there will no longer be “off-peak hours”. “There will be off-peak hours all the time,” he said, adding that Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar would explain this in more detail. The premier said that the coronavirus pandemic had the biggest impact on the services industry. “It is very important for us to bring industrialisation to the country. The purpose of this is wealth creation so that we can get rid of our burden of debt.”
He concluded the press conference by appealing to the nation to observe standard operating procedures for curbing the spread of the virus.
