Tareen, Khusro mentioned in power sector inquiry report as well

Both Jahangir Tareen and Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar are in the news for all the wrong reasons, as they are mentioned in the power sector inquiry report too with the allegations of earning unjustifiable profit, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.

The report says the power plants owned by the two politicians will get an additional profit of Rs4.88 billion, while they also face the allegations of extra earnings in the coal power plant installed with the collaboration of Qatar.

According to the document, the Bin Qasim and Sahiwal coal power plants will receive an additional amount of Rs4.83 billion.

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Moreover, the LNG is imported from Qatar at a much higher rate and there is a need to revise the agreement.

The report also says that the power plants will have to pay only Rs8 billion in the next few years because of the indexation of the dollar into rupee. It calls for fixing the profit in rupees instead of the dollar, saying it will help saving Rs4,700 billion.

The IPPs (independent power plants) bought oil and gas for power generation at cheaper rates but showed the amount much higher, says the report which also claims the record of oil and gas procured for the purpose was also manipulated.

It also added that the power plants earned Rs646 billion and Rs665 billion on the pretest of the capacity surcharge and uniform tariff/cost plus respectively.

Meanwhile, IPPs have so far managed to earn an amount Rs104 billion because of the faulty/poor system.

Talking about the power distribution system, it says 20 percent of the generated power was lost due to transmission and distribution losses. The national exchequer lost Rs134 billion due to the line losses and power theft.

On the other hand, the inquiry report has also accused the federal government and NEPRA for the hefty financial losses.

In their reaction, the IPPs owners have written a letter to Power Minister Omar Ayub and accused the committee chairman of personal grudge.