Federal Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday said the government has developed a comprehensive plan to obtain affordable electricity, making cheaper power accessible in the coming days.
During budget speech 2025-2026, he said, under this plan, savings of more than PKR 4,000 billion have been achieved, and 9,000 MW of expensive power plants, which were to be added to the national grid, have been abandoned. He informed that for 18 million deserving and protected consumers, electricity prices have been reduced by over 50%..He added “They have reduced electricity prices for the industrial sector by more than 31% .
He said importance of the power sector for economic growth is undeniable and they have also revised agreements with IPPs, resulting in savings of more than PKR 3,000 billion”. He said through this process, they have successfully shut down over 3,000 MW of environmentally harmful furnace oil power plants, he added.
He further said fundamental reforms in the power sector are essential for sustainable improvement. “In this regard, we have completed nearly half of the privatization process of the designated distribution companies of Faisalabad, Gujranwala, and Islamabad. All necessary requirements for their privatization have been fulfilled”, he stated.
Muhammad Aurangzeb said to improve the performance of the electricity transmission company NTDC, they have restructured it and divided it into three new companies. These companies will be responsible for the planning and implementation of future projects, aiming to eliminate bottlenecks in the power transmission system, he stated. Globally competitive professionals will be appointed to manage these institutions. He said that the management of electricity distribution companies is now in the hands of professional boards saying that We have eliminated political interference in these boards”.
He said with the arrival of professional boards, these companies have reduced their losses by PKR 140 billion in just nine months. “it is our commitment to completely eliminate these losses within the next five years”, he said. He said for the establishment of a competitive and open market in the power sector, legislation and regulations have been finalized, and implementation will begin in the next three months. For the first time in Pakistan’s history, building codes based on energy-saving principles have been approved, and federal and provincial institutions have been directed to fully implement these regulations so that all future constructions are energy-efficient and effective, he said.
He stated “we have shut down all power generation units that were government-owned in the form of GENCOS”. The process of selling the surplus equipment of these plants has begun to relieve the national treasury of an annual burden exceeding PKR 7 billion, he stated.