Govt to bring down power tariff at Rs7-8/unit: Dr Musadik

KARACHI: Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik on Monday claimed that the electricity tariff would be brought down to Rs7-8 from Rs26 per unit before the end of the present government’s tenure.

“We will be able to do it as we are committed to it and working on it,” Malik asserted while addressing a seminar titled ‘National Policy Dialogue: Localisation for Growth’. The minister reiterated that one third of the crude oil would be imported from Russia at low rate as the government has done immense work to strike a deal with the country for cheaper energy.

Replying to a query at the end of his speech, he also claimed that the Unaccounted for Gas (UFG) losses of gas companies, including Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), would be brought down to zero before the tenure of this government expired.

He also said that the low-income segment would remain largely unaffected from gas tariff hike by putting in place separate tariffs for rich and poor segments of the society by breaking the ring fence.

Wellhead circular debt has been reduced to zero and circular debt of LNG remains, which would also be reduced to zero by the end of the government’s tenure, as work was underway on it.

Earlier, speaking at the seminar, Malik strongly recommended improving the culture of productivity in the country as he called it the only panacea to move forward on a path of economic growth. “There is no mantra, but productivity, and long-term productivity for localisation can be achieved only through innovation and ingenuity,” he stressed.

“Except productivity, nothing can drive a country towards localisation,” he said, calling the path of import substitution for localisation flawed. He pointed out that raising the tariff would only benefit a few or groups, but it would not lead to localisation.

Calling export the key performance indicator of localisation, the minister said that the “cluster approach” could achieve the desired productivity for developing exports. Developing clusters could only happen with improved links between industry, academia and the private sector, he added.

For this, he urged for radical change in the whole education system. Referring to the growth story of India, the minister said that it has a competitive edge in its educational system, which is evident from its industry.

Speaking about the role of the government, he said it should only be responsible for creating a level-playing field that enables competition on the basis of productivity and innovation. “Only through fierce competition you would get a competitive edge, and only through edge you’d be able to create clusters, and only through clusters you would be able to export and only through exports you would be able to save Pakistan,” he stated.

Pakistan Stock Exchange Chairperson Dr Shamshad Akhtar in her address said, “Localisation of renewable energy (RE) is the best course; however, it can’t still provide hundred percent base load of power.”

She said that Pakistan was using coal for power needs, but financing for coal plants was becoming increasingly difficult because of greenhouse emissions and climate change issues.