ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Despite continuous pressure mounted by ongoing sit-in by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in the capital regarding exorbitant power bills, Federal Minister for Energy Awais Leghari on Monday ruled out any possibility of reviewing agreements with the Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
Speaking to a private news channel, Federal Minister for Energy Awais Leghari said that the government would not review the agreements with IPPs under any circumstances.
He said that the government couldn't pay a penalty to the tune of $900 million like Reco Diq by revoking the contracts unilaterally.
“The government is taking steps to cut the tariff rates. The government can negotiate with IPPs regarding capacity payments. Had the dollar rate not increased, capacity payments would have stood at 800 billion instead of 2100 billion rupees,” he claimed.
The federal minister said that re-profiling of debt payments in the power sector was discussed at length with the Chinese authorities during the finance minister’s recent visit to China.
The minister said that the cost of electricity could be slashed by Rs2.5 per unit by using local fuel instead of imported fuel in electricity production.