- “Over 17m people are being provided relief worth Rs22bn on account of FCA exemption,” power minister says.
- Dastgir says work is underway on the restructuring of the NEPRA.
- He terms Imran Khan’s claims regarding excessive power capacity “incorrect”.
KARACHI: Following the announcement of the relief package by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan on Wednesday explained that only the households that consume electricity up to 200 units will be exempt from fuel charges adjustment (FCA).
Addressing a press conference in Karachi, the power minister revealed that 17 million people are being provided relief amounting to Rs22 billion on account of the FCA.
A day earlier, PM Shehbaz announced that 17 million of the total power consumers will be exempt from paying the high FCA in their electricity bills.
In a video address from Qatar, where he is on a two-day trip, the prime minister had said that after consulting with the International Monetary Fund, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and other coalition leaders, it was decided that 17.1 million electricity consumers would not have to pay the FCA for the month of July and August.
The power minister said that work is underway to restructure the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). “The authority’s main task is to determine the tariff, which is facing delays,” he said, adding that if the tariffs are announced timely consumers will not pay the surcharge amount.
“Additional amounts paid by the power consumers on account of June’s FCA was because of “Azaab-e-Imrani (the calamity of Imran)”, he said, terming PTI chief Imran Khan’s claims regarding excessive power capacity as “incorrect”.
The power minister said that the coalition government is trying its best to provide cheap electricity to the inflation-weary consumers.
Shedding light on future plans, Dastgir said that the coalition government aims to complete the projects of Thar coal, including the power generation project which is in collaboration with Shanghai Electric.
