By Asad Cheema
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has welcomed the announcement of an energy relief package by the current government for SMEs and industries and termed it a highly positive development as it would bring down the production cost, make our industry competitive and help in enhancing country’s exports.
President ICCI Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that power tariffs in Pakistan were considered the highest in the region due to which the cost of doing business had gone up significantly and our SMEs were facing great difficulties in producing goods at competitive prices thus exports were suffering.
He hoped that providing 50 percent relief in commercial electricity price to SMEs on additional usage from November this year to June next year and 25 percent relief to all industries on additional usage of electricity for three years would be instrumental in reducing production cost and boosting industrialization in the country leading to increase in exports. Abolishing peak hour regime was a laudable step of the government to support the industry, he added.
Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that the government should reduce high taxes on power tariffs and also consider providing similar relief to industry in gas tariffs for the next three years that would make our industry very competitive and help boost exports. He said that the government should fix power tariffs for the next five years at one level, which would give more confidence to the investors and help businesses make long-term planning for growth and expansion.
He said that Pakistan was mostly depending on thermal fuel for energy generation due to which cost of electricity was very high and urged that the government should focus on renewable energy sources including water, wind and solar to produce cheap energy that would make Pakistan an attractive destination for local and foreign investment.
The ICCI President further said that government should take measures to control power theft and transmission & distribution losses as to cover such losses, the government mostly tended to pass on their burden to the end consumers due to which commercial and domestic consumers were facing high electricity prices. He said that an inquiry report of NEPRA had disclosed that Discos had installed 30-35 percent faster meters and emphasized that the government should investigate this issue to save consumers from such injustices and unethical practices.
