PM Shahid Abbasi orders DISCOs to upgrade distribution networks

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chaired a meeting on power and energy at Prime Minister’s office on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Minister for Power, Jam Kamal Khan, MOS for Petroleum, secretaries of the concerned divisions, MD SNGPL, CEO Oil Companies Advisory Council, CEO Attock Refinery Limited and senior officials. The prime minister was briefed about current power demand and supply situation in the country. It was reiterated during the meeting that sufficient power and generation capacity was available in the system to meet current as well as projected demand for the coming months. The prime minister was informed that power outage in some parts of the country during the last three was not due to any shortage of power but due to technical issues in the distribution system. The prime minister directed for greater coordination among the officials of concerned departments so as to overcome issues related to power distribution. He further directed all DISCOs to maintain and upgrade their distribution networks so that increase in production capacity in the sector is translated into uninterrupted power supply and convenience of the public. Meanwhile, the prime minister also presided over a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) at Prime Minister’s Office. Taking into account the recommendations of the recent CCI meeting, the ECC allowed export of 1.5MMT sugar in view of the availability of surplus sugar. The ECC permitted procurement of goods and services as per the provisions of the Framework Arrangement and Export-Import Bank of Korea Guidelines. In order to discourage fuel adulteration and tax evasion, the ECC allowed addition of Fuel Marker in Superior Kerosene Oil. The ECC also approved determination and notification of UCH-II Gas Price, as agreed under Gas Pricing Agreement (GPA) by Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority under the OGRA Ordinance, 2002. The ECC accorded its approval for making necessary amendments to the ECC approved Supplemental Agreement to Implementation Agreement (SAIA) for CPEC projects. The ECC also acceded to a proposal for levying of regulatory duty on import of LPG. The step would help maintaining parity with the locally produced LPG. The ECC also allowed disposal of 500,000 tons of surplus wheat of PASSCO through local sale.