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Government set to raise power tariff by up to Rs5 per unit**
LAHORE: As the government struggles to come to grips withe the rising power shortfall and the bulging circular debt, it has suggested the power regulatory body to raise tariffs by up to Rs5 per unit, Express News reported on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the government asked the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to increase power tariffs Rs3-5 per unit.
The higher tariff promises the government an additional revenue of Rs600 billion.
Currently, the government charges Rs6 per unit from household during day time. This is due to go up to Rs8.59 per unit. For night time consumption, the charge is expected to go up from the current charge of Rs13 to Rs14.70.
Source
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/images/2013/07/09/20130709_24.jpg
Sheir aaya sheir. How about also increasing the night time right to 20 rupees per unit? That will double the expected additional revenue of Rs600b to RS1200b? Then finally prime minister can address the nation and proudly lay a claim on eradicating energy crisis.
Is this the best way to resolve the energy issue? We have still not been told if measures have been taken to address power theft and line loss issues. We still don’t know if there is any road map for turning to more hydroelectricity, gas, coal and renewables. All we know is that tarrifs would be increased to generate more revenues which will be used to service circular debt. Ishaq Dar is saying that we have formed a formula to end circular debt issue, and now we know what their formula is.
America, China and India generate 44%, 78% and 67% of their electricity from coal respectively. Pakistan has zero use of coal for this purpose. Bangladesh generates 96% of its electricity off gas and Iran gets 83% from gas. Pakistan has onlly 36% of its electricity coming from gas.
Without properly setting a road map for generating cheap electricity and putting a proper plan in place to address the circular debt issue, the government directly puts its hands into the pockets of people to solve the crisis.
And no, Pakistan did not take any dictation from the IMF!