Businesses say energy must be top priority

Hope new government will take bold steps to tackle energy crisis.

FAISALABAD: Businessmen have expressed the hope that the new PML-N government, with a heavy mandate, will confidently pull economy out of troubles and tackle energy crisis by taking bold decisions in the larger interest of economic stability.

“People and business community have high hopes and are confident that the PML-N government … will usher in a new era of economic revival and prosperity,” says Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mian Zahid Aslam in a statement on Wednesday.

For businessmen, key issues are energy shortage, revival of the economy, law and order and education that should be given priority by the incoming government. An acute shortage of electricity and gas over the past many years has crippled industries and disrupted business and commercial activities across the country, particularly in Punjab.

The problem is not the installed electricity production capacity, but the need is to enhance generation to bridge the 6,000-megawatt gap between demand and supply, says Aslam. Other critical areas that should be looked into are runaway circular debt, hefty line losses, widespread theft and management of power sector.



Aslam believes that a shortfall of 2,000 to 3,000MW is the result of circular debt that swelled to Rs537 billion in 2012 from Rs144 billion in 2008. “About 40% of the country’s population has no electricity,” he says.

Industry people claim that the energy crisis has caused a dent of billions of rupees to the national economy, increased unemployment and shaved 2% to 3% off gross domestic product (GDP) growth of the country in a year.

Suggesting that the country should devise short, medium and long-term plans for addressing the energy woes, he says construction of big dams and hydroelectric projects in the long run will lead to cheaper electricity and rapid industrialisation in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2013.

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