Power tariff hike to dent trade, industry

Businessmen and industrialists have expressed deep concern over another increase in power tariff and demanded that the government withdraw its decision that will deal a big blow to trade and industry.

In a statement, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Kashif Anwar and other office-bearers pointed out that the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had jacked up power tariff by Rs4.12 per unit on account of fuel charges adjustment for November 2023 and also issued a notification, which would inflate electricity bills of consumers.

They said that unannounced load-shedding was adding fuel to the fire and hitting the manufacturing sector hard.

“The repeated hike in power tariff is hurting exports and local businesses alike. Above all, the rupee-dollar parity is still beyond the capacity of manufacturers,” the statement quoted the business leaders as saying.

Terming the frequent increase in electricity prices by the government “sheer injustice”, the LCCI office-bearers said that a majority of people had been sent bills many times more than their monthly income.

Read Power tariff upped by Rs3 for Oct

They called for putting an end to free electricity facility for all segments immediately till the time economic challenges were addressed and the debt burden eased as “currently we cannot afford such facilities”.

They were of the view that electricity was the main raw material for industries; if such anti-industry measures were not avoided, the manufacturing sector would be completely destroyed and the country would only become a trading place.

Despite the massive increase in electricity prices, the circular debt in the energy chain could not be controlled while the energy crisis worsened, due to which industrial production would fall to the lowest level.

According to the industrialists, the cost of electricity in Pakistan is already very high compared to other countries in the region and as a result Pakistani products will not be able to compete in the international market.

Pakistan has already lost much of the global market to China, Bangladesh and India due to its high production costs.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2024.

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