Miftah slams govt for U-turns

Power minister slams APP leader for misleading nation with baseless data

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD:

Former finance minister and Awam Pakistan Party (APP) Secretary General Miftah Ismail fired a broadside against the government's solarisation policy and the levy of tax on net metering, drawing scathing rebuttal from Power Minister Awais Leghari on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference at the party's office in Karachi, Ismail accused the prime minister of taking U-turn on the solarisation policy, saying that the government first encouraged people to install solar meters at home, but now the net metering was abolished and replaced with gross metering.

In response, Leghari stated that Ismail's criticism was based on "false and baseless figures", adding that because of the government's policies the share solar energy has reached 4,000 MW, which would be increased to 12,000 MW in the next eight years.

Ismail told reporters that the government lied when it said that solar power users are getting free electricity. "Now, the people have been told that sales tax would be levied on all units produced through the solar panels," he added.

"This will increase the electricity bill and the public will not get the benefit of solar," the former finance minister said. "This strategy is a policy reversal of the federal government, which is a kind of U-turn," the AAP leader added.

Ismail claimed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led coalition government was finding the intake of 1,300 gigawatt hours electricity from the public or solar power users a burden, but added that it could not see the waste of electricity during the production and distribution.

"In fact, only a dozen people in Pakistan are a burden on the public and the country because they have made electricity very expensive in Pakistan," he said, mentioning the purchase of electricity at exorbitant rate from the Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

Ismail also blamed the government for price hike in sugar. He also slammed the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for opposing the canals, saying that PPP was struggling to save its vote bank. He said that people were not being provided the actual water data.

"I ask my brother Bilawal Bhutto and my sister Maryam Nawaz, what happened to you announcements during the election campaigns about providing free electricity up to 200 and 300 units," Ismail told the reporters.

Later, in a statement, Leghari said that Miftah Ismail was trying to mislead the people by presenting "false and baseless figures". He added that the government encouraged the public to install solar panels. "The contracts of existing net metering users will remain as per the old rates," Leghari said.

"In many countries, the price of net metering is adjusted so that there is no unnecessary burden on the national grid and the economy. With mutual consent and consultation, the IPPs contracts have been reviewed, which results in the saving of Rs1,500 billion," the minister said.

Last year, the share of clean energy in the national grid, including hydel, solar, wind and nuclear power, was more than 55%, he continued. In the next few years, the ratio of clean green energy would reach 85%. "Pakistan should be proud of having a clean green energy grid," the minister said.