No load-shedding during Sehar, Iftar: PM

ISLAMABAD: Keeping the redressal of electricity crisis as the top priority, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, chairing his first cabinet meeting here Tuesday, discussed the energy situation as obtaining in the country.

The Secretary Water and Power apprised the Cabinet that since the first meeting on June 23,2012, on the subject almost 2000 mw electricity had been added to the national grid and another more than one thousand MW would be put into the system during the next two-three days. The situation of load shedding will ease up proportionally, the secretary said.

The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Water and Power to ensure that there would be no load shedding at `Sehri' and `Iftar' time during the holy month of Ramazan, commencing from next month.

The Minister for Petroleum informed the Cabinet that he had issued the instructions regarding the release of 28,000 tones of fuel oil for the power plants to increase generation of power about 1500 MW electricity within the next two to three weeks.

The Minster for Railways was directed by the Prime Minister to make special arrangements for the early transportation of the fuel oil so that the same could be used for the power generation.

The Minister Railways said that three special trains had been arranged for the purpose and the supply of the fuel oil would be ensured at the earliest keeping in view the urgency to generate more electricity for the consumers at the earliest possible time.

The Secretary Water and Power was quite upbeat to meet the target of more than 15,000 mw during the next two to three weeks as the melting of the glaciers were getting momentum with every passing hour and the river flow would improve substantially accordingly.

The Secretary said that the gap between the supply and demand would be narrowed down as such, leading to provision of relief to people from load shedding as hydel power generation will increase.

Minister for Information & Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira dispelled the impression created in section of press that about more than 600 MW electricity would be taken out of the KESC system to put in the national grid to ease the situation lodshedding in the rest of the country.

The Minister said that the equal amount of electricity would be available to KESC by making its gas-fired plants operational by making gas available to them, which is company's preferred option. So the question of cutting the electricity supply to KESC is simply misplaced and a mere conjecture, the minister said.

The Prime Minister also directed the Energy Committee to strategize the cutting of the line losses and also theft of electricity which have been incurring huge losses to the power sector and thus to national exchequer.

The Prime Minister also underscored the importance of pursuing the arrears to make the sector sustainable because adherence to the law of survivalibility is critical in the entrepreneurial organizations.

The Prime Minister said that conservation was an important component of the strategy to overcome the electricity crisis and therefore must be treated with equal emphasis.

Secretary Finance Division gave presentation to the Cabinet on Consumer Price Index in the country to oversee/discuss the trend of prices of essential commodities. The Cabinet was informed that CPI has come down from 13.7 percent last year to 11 percent this year. Food inflation has also shown signs of receding. SPI decreased from 16.9 percent last year to 6.8 percent this year, while the whole sale price index came down from 21 percent last year to 16.8 percent this year.

The Cabinet considered and directed the Ministry of Finance to redraft that Bill to amend the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act in consultation with Law Ministry.

The Cabinet considered and accorded its approval for signing of Addendum to the MoU on Defence Cooperation between the Government of Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

The Cabinet considered and gave its approval for signing of agreement for establishment of Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation between Pakistan and Ukraine. The proposed agreement would provide a platform to promote cooperation between the two countries in economic, commercial, investment, agriculture, technological, manufacturing, scientific and other fields of mutual interest.