Daily Times

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Thursday that National Contingency Energy Saving Plan had been prepared which would significantly reduce the import bill. In a tweet, she said that this decision was made in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on economic recovery and elimination of energy shortage. The minister said that extraordinary measures were decided in the meeting in an extraordinary situation.

She said that emergency saving plan would be presented in the next cabinet meeting for final approval. She said that all the chief ministers would also be invited to the upcoming cabinet meeting as the plan be implemented in collaboration with the provinces. She said that a decision to crack down on electricity theft was also taken. She said that converting private and government buildings to solar energy was also part of the plan.

The purpose of the Emergency Energy Saving Plan, she said was to reduce the pressure on the people and the economy as the price of fuel, including oil, continued to rise in the global market. She said that Pakistan’s import bill was $29 billion annually which in rupees terms amounted to more than 6 trillion.

As a result of the energy saving plan, billions of dollars will be saved annually, which would be more than Rs 262 billion in Pakistani rupees. Extraordinary measures were necessary to cope with the extraordinary situation in which every Pakistani will have to play his part, she maintained. The minister quoted the Prime Minister as saying that saving energy was the problem of Pakistan’s survival.