Federal government injected Rs 186m in power sector: PM
24 January, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said that the federal government has injected Rs 186 billion in the power sector till date in the ongoing fiscal year.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said that the federal government has injected Rs 186 billion in the power sector till date in the ongoing fiscal year.
Raja informed this to the provinces while presiding over the 11th meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) at the PM's Secretariat here on Wednesday.
Unless the provinces and consumers paid the bills it would be difficult to maintain supply of power, he made it clear.
Raja constituted a committee comprising federal ministers Syed Khursheed Shah and Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh to reconcile the figures between the federal government and provinces and develop a mechanism to ensure that there is no discrepancy in power bills figures in the future. The Ministry of Water and Power secretary has been directed to assist the committee.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Communication Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan, Minister for Science and Technology Mir Changez Khan Jamali, Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination Mir Hazar Khan Bijrani, Minister for Railways Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Balochistan Governor Nawab Zufiqar Ali Magsi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah representing Punjab chief minister, chief secretaries and senior government officials.
Reviewing the earlier decisions of the CCI regarding the power situation in the country, Raja said that exploration and production of coal from Thar was one of the foremost polices of the government. In this connection, the decision taken by the government to use the Thar coal as fuel for future thermal plants was discussed in length.
The prime minister was told that Asian Development Bank was assisting in construction of a 600 megawatts thermal power plant with an estimated cost of $900 million at Jamshoro which will use Thar coal. In addition Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had also shown interest in construction of power plant besides laying transmission lines from Thar to Maitari for transmission of electricity.
Regarding the progress made on the direction given by the council to Ministry of Water and Power for direction to GENCOs to enter into an agreement with the Thar Coal Energy Board, the prime minister said that the same should be finalised within seven days.
Raja also directed the Ministry of Finance to process the request of government of Sindh for providing sovereign guarantee to the Chinese company interested in mining of Thar coal and setting up a power plant. The Finance Ministry informed the meeting that the request was being processed by the ministry and would be put up before the next meeting of Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC).
The meeting was also informed that out of the 3.0 million incandescent bulbs (energy saver) one million were expected in March this year, which would be distributed among the consumers. The council also discussed in detail the issue of recoveries from the provincial government on account of electricity provided to them by the distribution companies. All the provinces assured the council of paying the actual amount and disputed the claims raised by the federation.
Raja said that the issues of recoverable was very important as the federal government has till date injected Rs 186 billion in the power sector this year. Unless the provinces and consumers paid the bills it would be difficult to maintain supply of power, he observed.
The CCI also took up the issue of regularisation of services of lady health workers. It was decided that the federal government regularise their services and cover till 2017. The representatives of provinces assured the council that they would ensure that sugar mills paid the dues to the growers.
Railways Board Chairman Arif Azim in his overview about the current situation of railways sensitised the council about the problems facing Pakistan Railways.
The chairman in his briefing to the council said that presently 152 locomotives are in operation and it is expected that an additional 302 locomotives, which are in pipeline, would be added to the railways fleet by the end of this year.
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