FAISALABAD. Prime Minister should immediately intervene and direct Ministry of Water and Power to reduce electricity tariff, especially for industrial sector to give a kick start to the dampened industrial activities and help private sector create new job opportunities in addition to enhancing national exports, said engineer Rizwan Ashraf, president of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) here.
Quoting statistics, he said that during May 2014, generation cost of electricity was Rs 7.2359/kWh which recorded a phenomenal decrease this year and now the cost of energy has been determined at Rs 4.7228/kWh. He said that if transmission and distribution losses are also added, the electricity cost will hardly stand around Rs 6/unit. He said that contrary to the actual price, the industries are paying approximately Rs 14.60 per unit for electricity. He said that this difference is adding to the cost of production and now the major chunk of industries have either gone sick or forced to operate at 30-40 percent of their installed capacity.
He welcomed the government’s efforts in bringing down the generation cost of electricity but said that government should concentrate on adding cheap hydel electricity to further bring down cost of energy mix in Pakistan. He also pointed out that despite of recent decrease in fuel adjustment charges, the cost of electricity in Pakistan is still highest in the region and we are unable to compete with regional competitors.
He mentioned recent floods and said that general situation is favourable to build multi-purpose hydel dams not only to generate electricity at the cheapest price but also provide water to bring millions of acres of barren lands in the country under plough. These dams would also help Pakistan to avert colossal loss inflicted to the economy and infrastructure because of the floods every year.
