Former President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt on Sunday said the power sector has not been able to become sustainable despite decades of efforts.
This sector has become a liability that is wasting trillions of rupees annually and has become a big problem for the public, government, and business community, he said.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said that the government should promote renewable energy to reduce the oil import bill and losses in the power sector as the power crisis has cost $82 billion in lost GDP between 2007 and 2020.
Nobody, including industrialists, should get subsidized electricity as it increases wastage and all the consumers should be billed, he added.
The business leader said that financial assistance should be given to poor sections of society instead of subsidies.
He said that tariffs should be altered in a way that electricity should be cheaper when it is in surplus in the system and costly when the system suffers from a deficit.
Shahid Rashid Butt said that the population of Hawaii, the 50th state of America, is two million, but the number of solar panels in it is double that of Pakistan.
He said that there are 40 million households in Pakistan, while the number of solar installations is only 18,000 the reasons for which are lack of incentives, lack of credit facilities, changing policies, and a complicated tax system.
He quoted a World Bank report in which it has been claimed that solar energy can meet the growing demand for electricity, it can play an important role in reducing transmission and distribution losses and it can reduce corruption.
Concerned government bodies are hindering the spread of solar energy due to which people prefer UPS and generators, which increases the consumption of imported fuel, he lamented.
The government also wants to promote electric cars and electric bikes, but they would be charged with electricity produced from imported fossil fuels as the power sector contributing to economic instability and unemployment.
He said that Pakistan’s electricity grid has repeatedly failed to meet the needs of the people, it has increased business costs and resulted in load shedding and blackouts.
It has resulted in great public inconvenience and losses to the business community and it is considered a big obstacle in the way of foreign investment.
If the government continues its current energy policies, the country’s problems will continue to increase and the people will continue to lose up to thirteen billion dollars annually. The current system is not able to fulfill the needs of the 21st century, he said.
