10,973MW of electricity added to national grid in five years
AAMIR SAEED
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Power Sardar Awais Leghari Thursday informed the National Assembly that his government has added 10,973 megawatts of electricity in the national grid during the last five years.
The minister said during the Question Hour that the government is completing the power projects in record time and more generation of electricity will also help reduce the power tariff.
Responding to questions of the members, he said that the LNG-based power plants are being completed in a record time which will provide cheap and reliable power to the system. Members of the opposition parties, however, protested against the minister, saying that prolonged hours of load-shedding are still being observed in different parts of the country including Karachi and interior Sindh. The members of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) also staged a token walkout from the House to register their protest against extended hours of load-shedding in Karachi. The minister, however, said that load management is being carried out on high loss feeders only in order to save the government kitty from paying for the theft. Leghari informed the House that the present installed capacity to generate electricity was 30,195 megawatts while the de-rated capacity was 28,440 MW. He said that the average 14,275 megawatts electricity was being generated with 1,572 megawatts hydel, 2,092 megawatts by power generation companies (GENCOs) and 19,610 megawatts by independent power producers.
The minister said the peak generation was 16,728 MW. He said the generation depended on demand and plants were dispatched as per economic merit order. He also rejected the impression that the duration of power outages has increased in the country. He said that 5300 feeders where losses are less than 10 percent are exempted from outages. He said that the power outages are only being carried out in areas where losses are high. He categorically said that the government has succeeded in overcoming power shortages.
To another question, Parliamentary Secretary for Cabinet Secretariat Raja Javed Ikhlas informed the House that the federal government has taken notice of prolonged power outages in Karachi. He said a high-level delegation has been sent to Karachi to sort out issues between K-Electric and the SSGC. He said that the K-electric owes billions of rupees to the gas company and if it clears the dues, the gas supply situation to the company will improve.
The House was also informed that since its inception the total number of cases registered in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) till 31-03-2018 is 12,162 while the total number of cases pending under progress in the NAB against politicians, businessmen and government officers in BPS-20 and above is 946.
The total numbers of cases (inquiries, investigations) decided during last five years are 2438, the House was informed.
