Trade and industry decry costly electricity

Trade and industry people have asked the government to seriously look into the matter of high electricity tariffs for all categories of consumers, particularly export and general industries, and rationalise the same to bring down the cost of production. SITE Association of Industry President Muhammad Kamran Arbi said there is much unrest amongst the business community due to high electricity bills. The high energy tariff is fast making local goods uncompetitive on international markets against competitors particularly Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Egypt. He said the contracts signed with independent power producers (IPPs) are the root cause of exorbitant power tariffs. Capacity payments have crossed alarming levels already without any significant addition in electricity consumption. This burden is being transferred to consumers who are already crumbling under the weight of high inflation and is squeezing them further. The agreements signed with IPPs have now become a question of survival for the entire nation,