KARACHI: A group of prominent businessmen this week urged the government to review contracts with independent power producers, in the wake of a crisis over record electricity prices that has fueled nationwide protests and traders strikes since last month.
IPPs are private, non-utility generator companies that produce electricity and sell it to the government and end users. Among major criticisms of IPP contracts is that they require the government to make capacity payments even when power generated by them is not fully utilized. Experts say the arrangement leads to a high cost of electricity which augments the production costs of factories and industrial units. IPPs have also been accused of making exorbitant profits and dividends on capital invested under existing contracts.
Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar acknowledged problems with IPP contracts when questioned about record electricity bills that have led to nationwide protests. He said the government was “thoroughly discussing” renegotiating the contracts among the various options it was considering in response to the unrest.
“We request the government not to revise the agreements with the IPPs on old terms,” Mirza Akhtar Baig of the United Business Group said at a news conference in Karachi on Wednesday. “We should not renew contracts with them on old terms.”
Baig said under the contracts, the government had been paying capacity surcharges to IPP companies, which he said even exceeded the country’s defense budget.
Representatives from the Power Division told Senate last week capacity payments to IPPs for the current fiscal year had reached a staggering Rs1.3 trillion. Over the years, IPPs have also been accused of over invoicing and misreporting, and experts and politicians have called for a heat rate audit.
At Wednesday’s press conference, the business group also requested the government to put the names of all domestic and foreign IPPs owners on the exit control list to probe irregularities in the power generation sector.
“At present, Pakistani industries are facing problems due to our declining national economy,” Khalid Tawab, another influential businessman at the press conference, said. “Traders and industrialists are all worried because of the electricity bills. Forty percent of industries have been closed in Pakistan.”
Kakar’s government has also announced it is trying to bring down electricity tariffs, and blamed electricity theft for the revenue shortfall of Rs589 billion ($1.9 billion) in the power sector annually.
Interim energy minister, Muhammad Ali, said this week the government was setting up a task force to crackdown against those stealing electricity or not paying bills on time.
An electricity price hike was agreed with the IMF earlier this year when the international lender approved a short-term $3 billion bailout package for Pakistan.
Pakistani businesses demand new contracts with independent power producers amid electricity bills crisis
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Pakistani businesses demand new contracts with independent power producers amid electricity bills crisis
- PM Kakar this week acknowledged problems with IPP contracts, said “thoroughly discussing” renegotiating
- Pakistan has been in the grips of sporadic protests and strikes since last month over record electricity bills
Pakistan and Italy mark 70 years of archaeological cooperation in Swat
- Founded in 1955, Italy’s Swat mission has led excavations and conservation work at major Gandhara sites
- Italian archaeologists have also contributed to training Pakistani researchers and museum development
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Italy marked 70 years of archaeological cooperation, said an official statement on Sunday, with officials highlighting decades of joint work in preserving ancient sites in the country’s northwest, where Italian researchers have played a central role in documenting and conserving remnants of the Gandhara civilization.
The Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat was established in 1955 by Italian scholar Giuseppe Tucci, a leading expert on Asian art and religions, with the aim of studying, excavating and preserving Buddhist and pre-Islamic sites in what is now Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Over the decades, the mission has become one of the longest-running foreign archaeological projects in the country, working closely with Pakistani authorities and academic institutions.
“Pakistan is committed to advancing archaeological research, conservation and education, and looks forward to deepening cooperation with Italy in both scope and dimension,” Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture Aurangzeb Khan Khichi said while addressing a ceremony in Rome marking the mission’s anniversary.
The event was organized by Italy’s International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies (ISMEO), with support from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and the University of Venice, and was attended by Pakistani and Italian academics, diplomats and cultural officials.
The Italian mission was originally conceived to systematically document Buddhist sites in the Swat Valley, once a major center of the ancient Gandhara civilization, which flourished from around the first century BCE and became a crossroads of South Asian, Central Asian and Hellenistic influences.
Since its inception, the mission has led or supported excavations and conservation work at several key sites, including Barikot, believed to be ancient Bazira mentioned by classical sources, as well as Butkara and Saidu Sharif, helping establish chronologies, preserve stupas and monasteries and train generations of Pakistani archaeologists.
Italian researchers have also worked with local authorities on site protection, museum development and post-conflict rehabilitation, particularly after natural disasters and periods of unrest that threatened archaeological heritage in the region.
The anniversary program featured sessions on the history of the mission, its collaboration with the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and future research areas such as archaeobotany, epigraphy and geoarchaeology.
The event was moderated by Professor Luca Maria Olivieri of the University of Venice, who has been associated with archaeological fieldwork in Pakistan for nearly four decades and was awarded Pakistan’s Sitara-e-Imtiaz for his contributions to heritage preservation.
Officials said the mission’s longevity reflected a rare continuity in international cultural cooperation and underscored Pakistan’s efforts to protect its archaeological legacy through partnerships with foreign institutions.
