Islamabad:
On Wednesday, the Permanent Senate Committee of Electricity toasted the electricity division on its inability to provide clear responses on the cost and efficiency of PPIs, the uncontrolled increase in circular debt and the persistent load shedding of electricity during the peak summer months.
The committee, chaired by Senator Mohin Aziz, expressed strong dissatisfaction with the lack of transparency in the energy division.
“We asked for a global comparative analysis of IPP power plants over a year ago, but no data was shared,” said Senator Aziz. He deplored the continuous reluctance of the division to share the figures for thermal efficiency, qualifying the unjust PPI provisions from the start.
Senator Shibli Faraz castigated the Division of Power to dodge questions.
“In the past four years, we have not received any clear response. These projects were the result of collusion. The costs have been artificially swollen to increase benefits, not because of a real investment. This has paralyzed our economy and overwhelming generations,” he said. He condemned the continuous use of bank loans to settle the circular debt, saying: “We are celebrating the loan as if it was a success”.
Faraz also pointed out that the energy division must stop hiding behind the working groups and cope with a front parliamentary examination.
Responding to criticism, the secretary to power Rashid Mahmood Langrial explained that the payments of the circular debt were now linked to the existing debt supplements and assured the committee that no new financial burden would be transmitted to consumers. He defended the government’s decision to reduce electricity subsidies, saying that she helped control the circular debt.
Langrial admitted that some PPIs had obtained excessive rates of return and said: “We have already recovered 30 billion rupees of excess PPI profits won by fuel and O&M margins.”
