Govt to conduct audit of power plants set up by PML-N: Fawad

ISLAMABAD (92 News) Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Tuesday said that the government has decided to carry out audit of the power plants established by the previous government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N). Addressing a press conference, Fawad Ch said that he said that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has already initiated investigation in the LNG power plants established in Punjab province. He assured that the government will conduct audit of power plants set up by the previous government in order to fix responsibility of wrong doings in them. The minister said that the PML-N government signed agreements to produce electricity at extremely high costs. He also claimed that Quaid-e-Azam solar plant is the most expensive power plant in the world. The minister noted that the power plants established by the PML-N government are generating electricity at high cost. He said the current average per unit power cost is 15.53 rupees and the consumers are being provided electricity at the rate of 11.71 rupees. This, he said, is causing a loss of 2.63 rupees per unit to the national exchequer. Further elaborating the losses, the information minister said that a deficit of 1.2 billion is being incurred on daily basis in the power sector in the winter season while in summer season, the deficit soars to 1.80 billion rupees. As a result of these losses, circular debt is ballooning by thirty four to thirty six billion rupees every month. He further said that the NEPRA has recommended increase in power tariff. The matter will be taken in the next meeting of the economic coordination committee. “Whenever accountability is spoken about, it is said that the democracy is in danger,” he said. “People are not even aware and billions are being discovered in their accounts.” Fawad Chaudhary said that the corrupt elements will be brought to justice and a new Pakistan will emerge as a result of the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan. He said a framework has also been prepared to check money laundering. Fawad further said that the government tried its best to ensure that the poor are not affected by the hike in gas prices and are striving to fix things. The information minister also clarified that no decision regarding a hike in power tariffs was taken during the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) meeting. “Federal Minister for Energy Umar Ayub is out of town and a decision will be taken during the next ECC meeting,” he added. Commenting on the by-polls that were held on October 14, the information minister stated, "The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) set a new example as no minister visited any constituency."