Power Price Hike: Positive Progress | Martyrdom of 6 Army Soldiers Including Lt. Col: Ishraq Ahmed Hashmi

 

Electricity rates in Pakistan are more or less three times higher than neighboring countries due to which life has not only become very difficult for the common consumer but also the cost of production of all items has increased enormously and largely because of this in the last several years. The economy is suffering from severe crisis. However, the present government is seriously trying for economic recovery and the positive results of its measures are also coming in the form of improvement in key economic indicators. Measures to reduce electricity rates are also ongoing on behalf of the government, in which discussions with IPPs are at the top and according to the latest information, promising progress is being made in these efforts. The background of this issue is that in recent years, business circles, economists and some political parties have identified the main cause of electricity price increase with independent power producers, i.e. IPPs.

In the case of certain clauses of the agreements made with great intensity and which are clearly in conflict with the national interests. One of them is to pay these power plants according to their full production capacity, even if they have not produced even a single unit of electricity due to lack of demand. Also, under these agreements, the payments to the power plants are not made in Pakistani currency but in US dollars due to which the foreign exchange reserves remain under unnecessary pressure. The series has started. According to a senior official of the task force, the five IPPs that came into existence under the power policies of 1994 and 2002 have agreed to terminate the power purchase agreements as an expected move. After the final settlement, no future payments will be made to these IPPs, however, their previous dues will be paid, but this payment will be only for electricity price, not interest. Further, the volume of past capacity payments of Rs 80 to 100 billion owed to the government by the IPPs is under negotiation.

The IPPs that were working on the basis of the agreement will be handed over to the government, but the IPPs that did not come into existence under the agreement will remain with their owners. In this way, up to 300 billion rupees will be saved in terms of capacity charges, which were to be paid within the next 3 to 10 years, and this will give relief to consumers of 60 paise per unit. The official further said that 17 more IPPs, which came into existence under the 1994 and 2002 agreements, have also been identified and will also operate on new terms. The government will ask them to take and pay till then. It will continue to buy electricity under the mode until a private power market is established in two and a half years as expected. These 17 IPPs will be allowed to continue selling electricity under the competitive inter-trade contract market after the establishment of a private electricity market system. According to the task force official, under the competitive system, a significant reduction in electricity rates would be possible. Although this development is welcome, another major reason for the high cost of electricity is the various government taxes included in the electricity bills, which have reached 800 billion rupees. Therefore, increasing the scope of income tax to all these citizens is necessary. By broadening the scope of the tax, the tax levied on electricity bills should be abolished.

Martyrdom of 6 Army Soldiers Including Lt. Col

6 Khawarij were killed in the action of the security forces in North Waziristan, while Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Ali Shaukat, Naik Muhammad Allah, Lance Naik Akhtarzaman, Lance Naik Shahdullah, Lance Naik Yusuf Ali and Sepoy Jameel Ahmed were martyred in the fierce exchange of fire. I have paid homage. According to another press release of ISPR, the law enforcement agencies conducted a joint operation based on intelligence in Charbagh and killed two terrorists, including the leader of the Khawarij group, Attaullah alias Mehran, while one was injured. The Kharijites are still busy trying to make shelters in the border areas of Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, behind them are the areas of Afghanistan bordering Pakistan where terrorists wanted by the security forces are camped and Pakistanis take the opportunity. They attack the security forces by entering the Pakistani territory from across the border. Before Operation Zarb-e-Azb and Rid al-Fasaad, these people had made the border areas of Pakistan their home, and were busy in suicide bombings in the country. For some time, these people have The series of extortion has started at gunpoint. The soldiers and officers of Pakistan Army are engaged in search operation day and night, in which many successes have been achieved, during which many terrorists wanted by the law have been killed or arrested. The military men and officers who were martyred during this great mission, their sacrifices will never go in vain and their names will forever be written in golden letters in the history.