Federal Minister for Energy Awais Leghari announced on Thursday that the government is working to reduce the cost of electricity production, emphasising the urgent need for reforms in Pakistan's energy sector.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Leghari stated that one of the top priorities of the government is to lower electricity prices to provide much-needed relief to consumers.
"The per-unit price of electricity should be less than 10 rupees in Pakistan," he remarked, stressing that lowering the cost would greatly benefit both industries and the general public.
Leghari revealed that the government is in the process of revising agreements with power producers to meet this goal. "We are reviewing which plants are essential and which are not. Some government-owned plants are generating profits, but we are considering providing relief to consumers by foregoing those profits," he explained.
As part of the broader reform initiative, Leghari noted that five Independent Power Producers (IPPs) from the private sector have been identified as unnecessary.
"We have initiated negotiations with these IPPs and have fairly reviewed the terms of the agreements to ensure no party is harmed. Just two days ago, we reached an agreement with mutual consultation," he said.
The Energy Minister lauded the efforts of his team, announcing that their work has saved Pakistan 411 billion rupees, translating into 70 billion rupees annually. He also expressed gratitude to the owners of the IPPs for their cooperation.
Leghari specifically acknowledged the support of the Chief of Army Staff, whose agencies played a vital role in carrying out the task. "Without the full support of the Chief of Army Staff and his task force, this initiative would not have been possible," he said.
The minister also touched upon the restructuring efforts regarding government, nuclear, private, and foreign power plants. He revealed that the initiative started with debt reprofiling of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plants.
"If not for the recent unfortunate incident in Karachi, we would have signed multiple Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in the next week or two," he remarked, without providing further details about the incident.
Leghari stressed that Pakistan’s energy sector requires further reforms, particularly with regard to the role of IPPs. He reiterated the government's commitment to bringing down electricity costs as a means of revitalizing the economy and improving the standard of living for citizens.
