Karachi
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and All Karachi Industrial Alliance and Senior Vice Chairman of FPCCI’s Businessmen Panel Mian Zahid Hussain while rejecting the plan for further increase in power tariff on the behest of IMF termed it amount to stabbing business community in the back.
Talking to business community on Friday, Mian Zahid said that the government should consider repercussions of the IMF directives while NEPRA should stop playing with statistics and provide some meaningful relief to the masses.
Pakistan produced 121 billion units of electricity during the fiscal year 2018, 122.7 billion units in 2019 and 122 billion units in 2020 which indicate the electricity demand is static and tall claims for economic development holds no water, he added.
The business leader said stagnant electricity consumption is hitting government, masses and business community which can be increased by reducing the power tariff.
Hydel power has increased to 30 percent of the energy mix which must be increased to reduce dependence on imported fuel. Power generation through furnace oil has been reduced to three percent from 30 percent while the gap has been filled through power generation with the help of imported coal, he noted.
Ignoring local coal and relying on imported coal is amazing, Mian Zahid said adding that Pakistan is buying costly RLNG from Qatar and power generation thorough it costs Rs10 per unit while power generation with the help of coal is costing Rs6 per unit. The government has improved energy mix reducing fuel import bill from Rs600 billion in 2019 by ten percent despite devaluation which is an achievement, he said.
