Big businesses caught stealing power, DISCOs shift Rs591 billion burden: Energy minister
Business
Vows reforms will continue and losses will be further reduced next year
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Pakistan's Energy Minister Awais Leghari has revealed that power distribution companies (Discos) passed on a whopping Rs591 billion in losses during the fiscal year 2023-24, putting a heavy burden on the national economy.
He said if these losses hadn’t occurred, the country would’ve been in a better position to pay off its debt.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Awais Leghari said electricity theft was not limited to poor households – major industries and even furnace oil power plants had been caught red-handed stealing electricity.
He praised Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) for performing the best among Discos by successfully cutting down its losses.
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“One big industry steals more electricity than an entire village,” the minister said, slamming the elite for fueling the crisis.
He emphasised that the government was working round the clock to fix the energy sector, adding that improvements had already been made in the performance of distribution companies.
“We’ve appointed board members on merit and managed to save Rs151 billion by reducing losses,” he said.
Leghari further stated that Rs276 billion worth of electricity was stolen last year, while Rs315 billion in bills were left unrecovered by all Discos combined. “We had set a target to bring down losses by Rs10 billion, and we also managed to protect Rs191 billion paid by honest taxpayers,” he added.
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The energy minister revealed that a decision was made to gradually reduce losses by Rs100 billion.
“Compared to last year’s Rs591 billion, this year the losses have come down to Rs399 billion,” he said.
Explaining further, Leghari said there were two types of losses in Discos – technical and financial.
“But for the first time in Pakistan’s history, bill recovery has gone up to 96%," he claimed.
He vowed that the process of reform will continue and losses will be further reduced next year.
