KARACHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced a decrease in power tariff by Rs3 per unit for industries and asked the industrialists to show positive results of this cut through increase in exports.
The prime minister announced this while addressing the 39th Annual Export Awards Distribution Ceremony under the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).
The PM said that more concessions would be made to help the industrial community. He said the tariff would be applicable from January 1, 2016 and urged the business community to work harder and produce better quality goods, generate employment and earn foreign exchange for the country. He said his government’s focus was on addressing the three main challenges of improving economy, ending power shortages and countering terrorism, inherited by it in 2013.
Nawaz Sharif said the government was working on short, medium and long term projects to make the country self-sufficient in power generation. He said the country used to witness 12-18 hours of loadshedding, but today it was considerably less and things were improving gradually.
The prime minister said his government was also trying to make electricity cheap and lower cost of production so as to make these more competitive and help end unemployment. He said the issue of loadshedding was being addressed at multiple levels.
He recalled his visit to the Port Qasim coal-fired power generation plant and directed that it be completed by 2017. He said in financial years 2017-18, 10,000MW more electricity would be added to the system and another 15,000MW by the year 2025.
The PM also mentioned the construction of Diamir Bhasha project that would generate 4,500 MW, Dasu Dam, besides the nuclear power plants of K2 and K3, Neelum Jhelum and the fourth Tarbella Expansion project that would make the country self-sufficient.
