ISLAMABAD: Taking charge of the ministry he left more than six months ago, Musadik Malik on Tuesday outlined his plans to try and curb the growing circular debt problem in Pakistan’s power sector.
Mr Malik seemed confident that there will be no further increase in circular debt, which is projected to remain at Rs 2310 billion by the end of the current financial year. During an interaction with the media, he outlined a series of initiatives aimed at tackling circular debt, reducing power generation costs, and fostering socio-economic development across rural and urban areas unveiled a plan for energy sector reforms and socio-economic uplift.
Similarly, he emphasized the government’s commitment to lowering the cost of power generation, reducing line losses, and combating electricity theft, stating that these efforts will gradually lead to lower electricity prices. He said the cost of power generation will be reduced. “We are making efforts to bring down electricity generation cost, reduce line losses, and check power pilferage,” he said. “We are also making efforts to minimize the capacity charge and work is on progress in this regard. Electricity theft in urban areas will have to be stopped. And, doing so, he said, will help gradually bring down the electricity prices. If local gas is available, big gas plants can provide cheap electricity.”
According to the energy minister, reforms and restructuring of the DISCOs have become inevitable and there is a dire need for introducing reforms in the electricity companies. He said that talks on privatisation of DISCOs are going on. Currently, electricity load shedding is being made only in those areas where electricity theft is being done, said the energy minister.
Musadik Malik said public sector oil companies have been directed to establish a separate company for renewable energy. This, he said will help generate cheap electricity and protect the environment. He assured that reforms will be carried out in DISCOs to enhance their efficiency.
Responding to a question, Musadik Malik said progress will soon be seen on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. He said that negotiations on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline are underway in order to get rid of sanctions. We have the responsibility to lay gas pipeline in our side of areas, said Musadik Malik.
The Minister of Energy also enumerated steps envisaged by the government for the uplift of rural and urban areas.
He said it has been decided to provide direct subsidy to the farmers on fertilizers. He said the provision of high-yielding seeds and solar tube wells to the farmers will be ensured in order to enhance the productivity of the agriculture sector. He said loans will also be provided for the establishment of farm industries in order to ensure maximum utilization of fruits and vegetables.
For the urban areas, the Minister of Energy said that a plan has been developed to provide IT-related training to the youth. He said banks will also be asked to provide loans for the promotion of small and medium industries.
Speaking on the occasion, Federal Energy Minister Musadik Malik said that the Prime Minister has developed two strategies. One for rural areas and one for urban areas. Similarly, he said that a development strategy in agriculture will be formulated for rural areas.
He said fertilizer subsidy amount will be provided directly to the farmer and the tube well will be converted to solar. Similarly, the farmers will be provided with the best seeds. Likewise, small agro-industrial farms will be established in rural areas and the banks will provide loans for industries in rural areas.
Furthermore, banks have been asked to provide loans to small businesses instead of big ones while the banks will provide small loans for businesses in urban areas. This will double the agricultural production. In this regard, a scheme is in the final stages of preparation, said Musadik Malik.
Under the earlier system, farmers were not getting a subsidy, said, he added.
Federal Energy Minister Malik further announced educational reforms, including the establishment of schools for intelligent students and scholarships for bright students pursuing higher education. He said Master Trainers from foreign countries will be brought to the country to impart IT training to the youth. He said the Prime Minister has directed that every program should be on a sustainable basis. Investigations into the procurement of expensive coal for the Sahiwal plant are underway, said Musadik Malik.
