IPPs issue under discussion in Senate: Kakar

LAHORE: Former caretaker prime minister Senator Anwarul Haq Kakar has said the issue of IPPs capacity payments is the problem of 240 million Pakistanis including industrialists and businesses and is under discussion in the Senate.

Addressing a businessmen conference at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) regional office here on Friday, he said they fought many small battles for people's rights in the past and were now also fighting for their rights in case of IPPS capacity payments. He said some social media pundits were spreading disappointment among people about the country. However, the future of the country is bright and it will pass through these testing times. He made it clear that the IPPs issue was not raised for political point-scoring, rather they were committed to resolving it through dialogue. The caretaker government had faced many challenges including internal pressure, political parties pressure and Iran's attack and responded to all amicably. Furthermore, the SIFC was not intended to bring in dollars directly.

Former caretaker Commerce minister Gohar Ijaz said the burden of the negligence of government departments in the IPPs case was being put on the public. The entire nation has a single voice against IPPs capacity charges that has affected their lives. He claimed IPPs owners earned a lot of money. Now they should sit down with the government and revise agreements for the betterment of the masses. It is not the fault of power plants, rather it is the policy drawback on which these licences were given. Furthermore, Pak-Iran electricity is not a solution. Pakistan has enough power generation capacity, but the issue is sale of power. There is a need to look into the sale formula of the installed electricity. The government can change the formula. However, currently all the burden is on consumers in the name of reforms.

The conference requested the government to resolve the IPPs capacity payments issue. It said a think-tank can give a policy to the government to restore the economy.

FPCCI Patron-in-chief SM Tanveer said they were going to the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the issue of IPPs capacity payments. The industry cannot operate at the prevailing tariff. He announced that the Business Development Think-Tank elected Kakar as its president. The think-tank vision is to boost exports to $100 billion by 2030 while there is no political motive for creating it. If the business runs, the country's economy will run. “The entire Pakistan is standing with us in the battle of IPPs as everyone is facing hardships with electricity tariff. The battle of IPPs belongs to people and businessmen. The government has been paying Rs 2.6 trillion capacity charges. The issue will be raised in the SIFC besides the Supreme Court of Pakistan.”