ISLAMABAD: The business community of the federal capital has urged the government to generate electricity using low-cost resources including hydro, nuclear and coal.
Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has said that in order to overcome energy crisis, the government should reduce energy cost and promote industrialisation in the country.
ICCI President Muzzamil Hussain Sabri said that per unit cost of hydro electricity generation was Rs1.5, nuclear Rs1.35 and coal Rs3.46, while cost of electricity generation through oil was more than Rs20/per unit. These facts make it imperative that govt should give top priority to generating electricity through cheap sources, especially hydro, nuclear and coal that will help in bringing down cost of doing business, reducing import bill, boosting industrial activities and creating plenty of new jobs.
He said in 1990s, the share of hydropower in total production was 45pc which had come down to around 28pc by 2013 while share of thermal power had increased to over 67pc. It showed that the successive governments failed to exploit the cheap energy sources for the benefit of economy despite the fact that these were abundant in the country.
He said the foreign direct investment in power sector has declined to $136.2 million during the first nine months of the current fiscal year as compared to $194.4 million during the same period of last year, which should be a cause of concern for policymakers.
