Drawing ‘surplus’ power: Water and power ministry to approach SC against K-Electric

Company argues it is getting electricity in line with the agreement.

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to file a case in the Supreme Court against K-Electric, formerly Karachi Electric Supply Company, for drawing surplus power from the national grid.

Water and Power Secretary Saifullah Chattha announced this in a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power here on Wednesday.

The committee talked about issues pertaining to power generation, coal-based power projects, Neelum Jhelum hydropower project and National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC).

Chattha claimed that K-Electric had been consuming 350 megawatts of surplus power from the national grid for the last one year following a stay order won from the Sindh High Court to continue this practice.



The attorney general had made a lot of effort to get the stay order vacated, but to no avail, he said. “Now, the Ministry of Water and Power has decided to approach the Supreme Court to get the order quashed.”

Talking to The Express Tribune, the K-Electric spokesman recalled that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had already opposed stopping supply of 350MW of electricity to K-Electric in a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

“If the government moves the Supreme Court, K-Electric has the legal right to defend the case,” he said. The company had signed an agreement with the government for the supply of 650 megawatts and was getting electricity in line with the accord, he added.

Officials of the National Power Construction Company (NPCC), while highlighting its performance, told the parliamentary panel that the company had a paid-up capital of Rs6.4 billion, but its annual profit stood at Rs250 million only.

Expressing reservations about the thin profit, Senator Humayun Khan Mandokhel said the company was earning only 3% profit, though it had been working on several projects at home and abroad.

Profit on construction work ranged between 35% and 50% in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia besides Pakistan, he pointed out and suggested “we need to assess the performance and affairs of the company because it is causing losses to the government.”

The committee was also concerned about the slow pace of work on a power transmission line in Balochistan and issued directives that it should be completed by the end of July.

“If the transmission line is not laid by July-end, we will send a case to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the NTDC managing director,” the committee warned.

Panel Chairman Senator Zahid Khan was of the view that transfers and postings of officials were hurting the performance of power producers and distributors. He asked the government to stop the practice for the sake of bringing improvement in the power sector.

Four secretaries were replaced in the water and power ministry in financial year 2012-13, Secretary Chattha said while citing an example.

The panel members were also displeased with the absence of Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Zafar Mahmood and said the committee would use its powers if he did not turn up in the next meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2014.

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