Minister says electricity base tariff stable despite rupee depreciation

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Power Division Khurram Dastgir on Wednesday said that the base tariff of electricity has not been changed since September 2022 despite the devaluation of the currency.

Speaking at the sixth edition of Leaders in Islamabad Business Summit 2023 here, the minister said that the government has decided that in the future electricity generation would not be based on imported fuel. “We will have five sources, out of which four will be domestic and one would be semi-domestic,” he said.

He said the government set up large wind and solar-based power generation projects. Power generation from local Thar coal has also jumped to over 2,500 MW, he said.

He said no one could deny the importance of Thar coal. Power generation from local resources helped a lot to keep the power base tariff unchanged, he added.

He said fuel cost adjustment (FCA) remained negative during the last winter and its benefit was also passed on to the consumers.

He said coal and gas prices witnessed unprecedented increases due to Russia, and Ukraine war and coal prices recorded a 400 per cent increase.

The minister proposed that Pakistan needs to open its economy to the rest of the world.