THE plea made to Prime Minister Imran Khan by the Pakistan Foreign Investors Forum (PFIF) – a group of solar and wind energy sponsors – is a classic example of how bureaucracy works in Pakistan, afflicting losses to the country and com-pounding woes of the masses. The group has complained to the PM that the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) had cleared their generation tariffs — lowest in the country so far — but the Ministry of Energy had not issued its gazette notification for almost 5-10 months owing to a lacunae in an April 2019 decision of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE).
Fast-paced development of solar and wind energy resources was crucial for socio-economic development of the country and it was in this backdrop that the Prime Minister declared recently that by 2030, 60 percent of all energy produced in the country will be “clean” and through renewable resources. The Government has also decided not to go for more coal-based power plants and even went to the extent of scrapping two such plants that were supposed to add 2,600 MW of electricity to the national grid. Renewable energy has many advantages as it provides reliable power supplies and fuel diversification, which enhance energy security and reduce the need for imported fuels. In other words, renewable energy helps improve our health, environment and economy. In the case of energy projects that have been referred to by the PFIF, the approved tariff is much lower than what Pakistan is paying for similar projects already in operation and, therefore, their addition would help move towards the cherished objective of bringing down the overall electricity tariff which is one of the major hurdles to economic development. With this in view, the Ministry should have considered their case on a priority basis and taken a decision on merit but it seems things have not changed much despite verbal assurances of removal of hurdles in the way of investment. This is not the only example of the kind as investors in other fields as well get frustrated due to bureaucratic hurdles and as a result the country is deprived of prospective investment opportunities. We hope the Prime Minister would take serious notice of the situation and direct different ministries to expedite decision-making as per requirements of the 21st Century.
