On Wednesday, a high-level meeting on reforms in the power sector met here to address the issue of circular debt and a roadmap for advancing issues agreed with the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) plans to boost the overall output of different distributors of power.
The meeting was informed about the immediate closure of some low-performance power plants with a generating capacity of 1,794 megawatts of electricity, while more power plants with a capacity of 1,875 MW will also be shut down in the next two years, along with the privatization of 1,872 MW power plants.
Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired this meeting. Federal Ministers Shibli Faraz, Asad Umar, Umar Ayub Khan, Muhammadmian Soomro and Dr Farogh Naseem, Finance Advisor Dr. Hafeez Sheikh, Special Assistants Lt Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Nadeem Babar, Shehzad Qasim, Dr. Shehbaz Gill and senior officials of the ministries concerned were also present at the meeting.
In response to a question, Imran Khan said that people were faced with the burden of past decisions on the power sector, mismanagement and corruption, etc. He also unveiled the importance of moving forward the issues negotiated with the IPPs, he said the masses would directly benefit from the reduction of the circular debt.
He said the government was working on making the subsidy scheme, on a priority basis, transparent and equitable. He called for early finalization of reforms in the energy sector subsidy system so that aid could be provided to the deserving and poverty-stricken people.
