Policy of continued hike in power tariff hurting businesses: FPCCI

ISLAMABAD: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Sunday said that affordable and continued supply of electricity has become a dream for masses and the business community. Costly electricity is not only hurting the masses but is also adding to the cost of doing business as well as cost of production and exports, said FPCCI Vice President…

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Who will bear the brunt of power?

With more than half of the country’s total capacity charges payable to state-owned power projects, the government has decided in principle to cut the return on equity (ROE) for all public-sector plants, including hydro, nuclear, old thermal and new regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG)-based projects. The combined impact of the reduction in ROE for these projects has been estimated to…

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Balochistan amends mineral laws to transform state-run entities

QUETTA – The Balochistan government has brought changes in mineral laws to transform state-run minerals companies into vibrant and profitable entities, according to a senior officer of the Mines and Minerals Department. The move is meant to clear the path for the Balochistan Minerals Exploration Company (BMEC) and Balochistan Minerals Resource Company Limited (BMRL) to take mining lease in the…

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NEPRA advises empowering distribution companies

KARACHI: The power sector regulatory authority has advised the government to give autonomy to all the nine state-owned distribution companies like Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) and Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) – which supply electricity to end-consumers – after their performance continued to deteriorate over the years. Performance of distribution companies throughout this period (FY15-19) does not meet the…

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How to fix Pakistan’s economy

Prime Minister Imran Khan recently said that Pakistan’s economy was on the right track since country’s current account balance recorded a surplus $424 million in July 2020. Pakistan has gone through this boom and bust cycles many times before: an import-driven boom, balance of payments crisis, International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, stabilisation, a period of growth and then back to a crisis.…

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Distribution companies overbilling consumers to cover up losses: NEPRA

ISLAMABAD: Concerned over the poor performance of the power sector, the regulator has blamed the distribution companies (Discos) for overbilling consumers to cover up their inefficiencies and high system losses as the government struggles to put in place an improvement roadmap. In its “State of Industry Report 2019” cleared by the federal cabinet last week, the National Electric Power Regulatory…

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FPCCI seeks competitive energy rates for all industrial sectors

The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), opposing the Economic Coordination Committee’s (ECC) decision of raising power tariff for the export sector by 1.5 cents amidst downfall of 20 per cent exports, has sought regionally competitive energy tariffs for domestic as well as export industries to capture the global market. FPCCI President Mian Anjum Nisar observed that…

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Provision of gas facility to 25 villages, adjacent localities approved: Amin Aslam

ATTOCK (Dunya News) – Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam Saturday said that provision of gas facility to 25 villages and adjacent localities of NA-56 had been approved. While addressing a gathering in Pindigheb, he said the government believed in across the board provision of facilities without any discrimination, adding that that NA 56 constituency…

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