In a first, IPP offers to govt to cut tariff

KARACHI: An Independent Power Producer (IPP) has offered the government to reduce its electricity tariff.

Asia-Pak Investment CEO Shahryar Chishti said in a media briefing on Wednesday that the situation was deteriorating due to the rising cost of energy in Pakistan and they needed to provide cheaper prices to industrial and domestic consumers.

He said that electricity supply has to be made possible and his company was going to give proposals to the government to reduce electricity prices. For the first time in Pakistan, a private power producer is reducing its profit and transferring the contract from dollars to Pakistani rupees, he said.

He said that they had prepared a proposal for revising the contract for Liberty Power Plant and sent it to the government and also proposed to use local gas.

Talking about capacity payments, he said that attention was being diverted from the real problems. In fact, the real problem was fuel cost and non-payment of dues.

On this occasion, Liberty Power CEO Imran Ahmed said that this plant was installed at a cost of $2 million. “Our board has assured full support to reduce the cost of electricity from the plant. We are ready to reduce our profit to 10 percent,” he added.

He further said that for a comprehensive reduction in electricity prices, all the stakeholders have to jointly play their role to minimise the burden on consumers.