FAC deferred, not waived, will be recovered in Oct, March: minister

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir on Wednesday said the government had laid down the foundation to provide inexpensive electricity to masses, adding that no new power project would be set up based on imported fuel in future, reported local media.

Addressing a press conference here, the minister said that the foundation was being laid for inexpensive electricity in the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the proposed solar energy project would be completed at the earliest.

He said subsidy was being provided to consumers using 200-300 units under fuel cost adjustment, which would benefit 75 per cent consumers. He said that Fuel Adjustment Charges (FCA) were deferred, not waived, and will be recovered in the months of October and March.

Solar projects having 1-4 MW capacity would be set in rural areas of the country while all government buildings would be switched to solar energy, he added. The minister said both local and foreign investors had shown keen interest in investing in solar energy projects.

The investors were being briefed on 600 MW initial solar project and 11,000 MW electricity would be added to the national grid in the coming years, he added. He said the government had decided to optimally utilise indigenous sources of energy instead of relying on expensive imported fuel for generation of electricity.

Shifting the entire electricity generation on indigenous sources would not only help lessen the burden on national exchequer but would also provide electricity to consumers at an affordable rate, he said. He said the solar energy would also help decrease environmental pollution.

Khurram Dastgir said coal and oil prices witnessed a sharp increase of 300-400 percent in the international market during the current year. The consumers could not afford such a hike, he added.

He said now all new power projects would be set up on local resources including wind, solar, hydel, nuclear and Thar coal. Currently, the government was working on a number of power projects which would add 2,000 MW to the national grid by next year. He said prices of solar and wind energy were around 50-60 per cent less than other fuels, adding that a solar project of 600 MW would be placed before investors. The project would be awarded to the lowest bidder.

Dastgir said the Lahore-Matiari–Lahore transmission line had already been operationalised and projects would be set up where transmission line was already available. It had also been decided to convert expensive power projects based on imported costly fuel to alternate local fuel.

The minister said work would also be kicked on wind power projects side by side with solar power projects. “Work on hydel projects has also been expedited,” he added. The Karot project has started production since June 2022, he added. The 1,320 MW Shanghai Thar coal power project would start generation by end of this year, he said.

Coming hard on the past government, the minister said the incumbent government inherited Rs2,468 billion circular debt and Rs5,600 billion budget deficit. The government had reduced Rs258 billion circular debt in the last three months, he said.