Finding solutions: CCI to address hydropower profit dues

PESHAWAR: The provincial government has asked the Centre for its share in the electricity and gas royalty as well as the federal taxes. According to a handout issued from the CM House on Tuesday, the long-standing issue of K-P’s share in the royalty generated through hydel electricity will be raised at the Council of Common Interest for a permanent solution. In another development, Federal Minister Water and Power Khwaja Asif has accepted the demand of the province to get 1,626 megawatts from the power generated daily so the problem of outages and breakdowns can be countered. The handout also mentioned the issue of power thefts in the profits, stating areas where thefts are more than 70% will be subjected to longer outages until the losses are controlled. The notification quoted federal minister Khwaja Asif assuring the K-P chief minister that in areas where there is good recovery and fewer losses, the outages would be reduced to a shorter duration. The chief minister was quoted as asking the Peshawar Electric Supply Company to take action against officials who are involved in power theft.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2015.