DISCOS will not be privatised

‘Big consumers’ to be switched to Advanced Metering Infrastructure system by June, says Dastgir

ISLAMABAD:

The National Assembly Standing Committee on the Power Division, on Monday, was told that the distribution companies (DISCOs) were not being privatised.

The committee, chaired by Sardar Mehmood Khan Mazari, was further informed that recovery of those feeders with losses will be outsourced alone.

Minister for Power, Khurram Dastgir said that it was imperative to eradicate power pilferage in order to reduce power tariffs. “All big consumers will be switched to the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) System by June,” he added.

“Over 150,000 ‘big’ consumers will be monitored live through the AMI System. Cheap electricity will be generated via solar energy while the quantity of electricity based on costly imported fuel will be minimised,” said Khurram.

The minister added that a point was being set up in Southern Punjab to control power breakdowns, as electricity was supplied from the South to the North during winter season. “A cut-out point will be set up to control country-wide power outages,” he said.

“The National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) will set up cut-out points for power blackouts,” he said, adding that “There are some feeders in the country where 98% of the people are not paying their bills. Line losses cannot be reduced without IT-based monitoring of the transmission system.”

The minister also added that the bills deferred last year will be recovered from the consumers.

“Thar coal is being used in power generation and 1,980 MW of electricity is being generated through local coal,” he said, adding that the total power generation from local Thar coal is likely to go up to 2,640 MW in the coming summer season.

Briefing the NA Panel, NTDC officials explained that line losses had witnessed an upward trend in the last five years. Power theft and technical NTDC losses, however, were not included in the trend.

Briefing the committee on a budgetary proposal for FY24, the officials said that the power ministry is seeking Rs298 billion for 102 development projects under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). Of these, 81 are ongoing while 21 are new schemes.

Out of the total, Rs122 billion was proposed under the local component while Rs176 billion was foreign.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2023.

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