ISLAMABAD: Despite mounting pressure built by the ongoing sit-in by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in Rawalpindi regarding skyrocketing electricity bills, Federal Minister for Energy Awais Leghari on Monday ruled out any possibility of reviewing agreements with the Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
Speaking to a private news channel, Leghari said that the government would not review the agreements with IPPs under any circumstances. He said that the government is not in a position to pay a penalty of $900 million like Reco Diq by unilaterally revoking the contracts.
“The government is taking steps to cut the tariff rates. The government can negotiate with IPPs regarding capacity payments. Had the dollar rate not increased, capacity payments would have stood at 800 billion instead of 2100 billion rupees,” he claimed.
The federal minister added that the re-profiling of debt payments in the power sector was discussed with the Chinese authorities during the finance minister’s recent visit to China.
He said that the price of electricity could be cut by Rs2.5 per unit by using local fuel instead of imported fuel production of electricity.
