*ISLAMABAD: *Pakistan’s circular debt had reached Rs573 billion – a massiveamount that undermines efforts made to improve power production andtransmission.
Briefing the Senate special committee on circular debt, chaired by ShibliFaraz, the joint secretary of Power Division said out of the circular debtof Rs573 billion, running defaulters, who were very influential, had to payRs348 billion. He said the cost of electricity generation was Rs8.52 perunit from March to July 2018 whereas consumers paid Rs11.9 per unit.
Committee Convener Shibli Faraz pointed out that electricity supply to poorpeople, who were paying their bills regularly, was disconnected in case ofmissing a single payment. However, the influential people, who werelongstanding defaulters, were provided electricity without interruption.
Avoiding payment of electricity bills and dodging punishment through theirinfluence and connection was financial terrorism, Faraz remarked. He askedthe government to adopt strategies to fight such issues and include them inthe Anti-terrorism Act. The joint secretary revealed that the governmentwas providing a subsidy of Rs52.2 billion to Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Rs14.2billion to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Rs31.4billion to the industrial sector. Apart from these, 650 megawatts ofelectricity is being provided to K-Electric.
Regarding load-shedding, the managing director of Pakistan Electric PowerCompany (Pepco) said there were a total of 8,631 feeder systems, which hadbeen divided into various categories. In the first category, there are5,367 feeders where losses stand at less than 10%. However, in the lastcategory, the losses are estimated at more than 80%.
Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Managing Director Imranul Haq told the committeethat the state-owned company’s receivables had surpassed Rs300 billion,which was affecting its performance.
He said PSO was receiving only 9% payment for oil supply, adding even nowthe Power Division had demanded 19,000 tons of furnace oil and if thecompany refused to provide the fuel, 9,000 megawatts of oil-basedelectricity would vanish from the system.
The committee asked the PSO MD to provide details of the circular debt andproposals for resolving the problem.
Talking about load-shedding, the CEO of Sukkur Electric Power Company(Sepco) said out of total 487 feeders in the Sepco region, 51 had less than10% losses while 299 had more than 80% losses.
Owing to lack of application of law, the circular debt was increasing andthe provincial government was not cooperating in controlling theft, hesaid, adding 11,800 applications had been filed against electricity theft,but only 79 FIRs were registered. “It is hard to work against power thievesdue to political interference.”
The CEO of Hyderabad Electricity Supply Company (Hesco) said out of a totalof 409 feeders in the Hesco region, currently 118 feeders were free fromload-shedding. The remaining areas are facing six to eight hours of outages.
Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) chief said the company had threemillion consumers with capacity to consume 5,000MW, but due to a weaktransmission and distribution system, the company could take only 2,100MW.
In the absence of a proper system, the Tribal Areas Electricity SupplyCompany (Tesco) is also getting power from Pesco. There are 906 feedersystems in the Pesco region, of which 17 to 18 are being shared with Tesco.A loss of 50% or above is being faced by 205 feeders.