Reforms Were Chalked Out To Uplift Power Sector: Minister

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jun, 2024) Federal Minister for Power, Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said on Sunday that the government has identified power sector issues and committed to resolve it through much needed reforms.

Talking to a private news channel, he said that the power sector was facing issues of power generation, line losses in transmission, distribution network issues and electricity theft.

These issues will be resolved through privatization process, shift to Thar coal instead of imported coal and adopted multi-prompt strategies.

Weak governance of distribution companies and the political influence in boards led the distribution companies towards inefficiencies and ultimately add in the circular debts, he added.

In response to a query about load shedding, he said that yesterday we had a surplus of 5500 to 6000 megawatt of electricity, but if we provide that power in the electric theft feeders, the loss was expected to reach to approximately 2.5 billion in a day.

Aggressive strategy has been made to prevent electricity theft, under which we plan to engage law enforcement agencies in federal as well as in the provinces to make the country theft free, he added.

The government chalked out a comprehensive plan to introduce automatic metering system to coupe up with the defaulters by means of power cut off under automated system.

He said "Government stands completely steadfast on its resolve to bring the country power theft free."