The government on Tuesday decided to make energy reforms a part of the budget 2023-24 in order to cut reliance on imported fuel.
The decision was taken by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at a high-level meeting on energy-related budgetary proposals that focused on the generation of cheap electricity, relief for consumers, and launch of solarisation projects.
The meeting was attended by federal ministers including Ishaq Dar, Khwaja Muhammad Asif, Engineer Khurram Dastagir Khan, and Maryam Aurangzeb, Advisers to PM Ahad Cheema, State Ministers Dr Musadik Malik, and Ayesha Ghous Pasha, PM’s Special Assistant Tariq Bajwa, Jahanzeb Khan, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue, Chairman WAPDA and the officials concerned.
Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Governor State Bank of Pakistan and prominent businessmen joined the meeting through video-link.
The prime minister directed inclusion of measures in upcoming budget regarding control of power line losses and electricity theft.
He also ordered the allocation of funds in the budget for the launch of wind and solar energy projects and called for the swift completion of power projects.
The meeting was informed that under the government’s solarisation programme for public buildings, four phases had been completed successfully.
The steps taken by the government for supply of uninterrupted electricity and gas also came under discussion.
