HYDERABAD, April 1: The government of Sindh has paid Rs500 million to Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) as part payment to clear its total dues of around Rs1.6 billion, a HESCO source told Dawn on Wednesday.

He said that the payment was made in the wake of a meeting between Sindh government officials and Hesco chief, Brig (rtd) Tariq Arshad, and the cheque of Rs500 million was handed over to Hesco director commercial Sheikh Amjad.

An amount of Rs1.1 billion is still pending as dues to be paid by the Sindh government. Hesco had earlier disconnected electricity to all the Sindh government departments including district government offices, taluka municipal administrations, local bodies institutions, and essential and non-essential services in February all over Sindh, to mount pressure on the provincial government to clear its dues.