ISLAMABAD: Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif said here on Monday that subsidised oil supplied to power plants was being sold in the open market and alleged that a ‘powerful oil lobby’ was obstructing development of alternative fuels.

Winding up a debate in the Senate on a Nepra report which pointed out deficiencies in the power sector, the minister said the subsidised oil was given to power plants on the basis of certain efficiencies, but they were selling surplus oil in the market to make money. There should be an audit to determine the actual consumption of oil, but nobody was contesting the stays obtained against such an audit, he regretted.

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Khawaja Asif said the bill of oil imported for power generation was about $16 billion per annum before a decline in oil prices in the international market. He said some ‘vested interests’ were resisting the government’s efforts to reduce the oil import bill by replacing the expensive fuel with coal, LNG and other cheap fuels to generate power because it involved billions of dollars.

In an indirect criticism of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, the minister said he was surprised that electricity distribution companies against whom there were several complaints were on top in Nepra’s ranking.

Citing an example, he said the Quetta Electricity Supply Company with only 20 per cent dues recovery rate appeared number 4 in the ranking.

He said that regulators like Ogra and Nepra were in fact meant to regulate the private sector but over the years they had been regulating the state. However, he categorically stated that the government had no plans to replace the chairman and members of Nepra.

He rejected a perception that 70pc of electric meters were inaccurate and said that there were about 20 million domestic consumers and the problem was with only 287,000 time-of-day meters and calculated on average after a random check. Even if it was assumed that 70pc of these meters were inaccurate, the average came to 1.04pc, he added.

CIRCULAR DEBT: The minister claimed that the circular debt had been capped at Rs320bn in October last year and efforts were under way to clear the backlog of payment to the Pakistan State Oil.

He rejected a claim that power plants had the capacity to generate 23,000MW and said: “This is a nameplate capacity and in actual terms it is not more than 18,000 to 19,000MW.”

Khawaja Asif said that certain plants were not able to generate more than 24pc of their original capacity, adding that 16,890MW was being generated under a prudent strategy and the plants with a cost of around Rs40 per unit were run only to meet peak demand.

He said the power situation was grim when the government assumed power but now it was under control.

NANDIPUR PLANT: About the demand for audit of the Nandipur power project by the Asian Development Bank or the National Accountability Bureau, the minister said he was ready for an investigation even by the United Nations or a judicial commission, to satisfy critics.

He said there was a dispute with K-Electric and the government was negotiating a new agreement with the power utility. He said KE was being provided 650MW a day and if it increased its own capacity this could be given to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or used somewhere else. He said K-Electric spent money on transmission in areas where it earned revenue.

1999 COUP: Senators belonging to different parties condemned the Oct 12, 1999, coup by then army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf and called upon all institutions to work within their respective domains.

Taking part in a discussion on the current political situation in the country, the senators were of the opinion that the action taken 16 years ago had harmed national interests.

Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbai said it was a matter of concern that the ministers of that time were confirming that a covert deal on Kashmir had almost been finalised. Condemning the Oct 12 action, he said that had the deal been undertaken by a civilian, he would have been in Kot Lakhpat jail. But, he regretted, Gen Musharraf was living comfortably in a posh area of Karachi.

PML-N leader Mushahidullah Khan said PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahirul Qadri were among the people who had supported the dictatorial regime that time.

He said the army should perform its duties and desist from seizing power. Whatever was being done against corruption was right, but accountability should be across the board, he added.

The PML-N leader also criticised the judges who had endorsed the military takeover.

PkMAP leader Usman Kakar condemned the Oct 12 coup and regretted that Gen Musharraf was still not behind bars. The judicial system is still under pressure. Without naming the army, he said that certain powers wanted to exercise control over foreign policy and keep other key issues in their hands.

Retired Lt Gen Salahuddin Tirmizi of the PML-N said politicians should take oath not to support any dictator in future. He regretted that politicians in the past had offered their services to dictators. He also criticised his own party and said the present cabinet was full of Musharraf’s associates.

Published in Dawn, October 13th , 2015

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