ISLAMABAD: Pakistan this month will ask Chinese power plants operating in the country to shift to using coal from Pakistan’s Thar region rather than imported coal, the power minister said on Sunday.
Islamabad may also begin talks on re-profiling Pakistan’s energy sector debt during the visit to Beijing, Awais Leghari, head of the energy ministry’s Power Division, told Reuters.
Leghari will be part of the delegation to discuss structural reforms to the power sector suggested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which last week agreed on a $7 billion bailout for the heavily indebted South Asian nation.
Neighbouring China has set up over $20 billion worth of energy projects in Pakistan.
“One of the key purposes of going along is the conversion of our imported coal units to the local coal. That would have a huge impact on the cost of energy, of power in the near future. So that is one of the biggest (items on the) agenda,” Leghari said in an interview.
Such a transition would benefit the Chinese-owned plants in Pakistan by reducing pressure on Islamabad’s foreign exchange reserves, he said, making it easier to repatriate dividends and offering a better return in dollar terms.
The transition could save Pakistan more than 200 billion Pakistani rupees ($700 million) a year in imports, translating to a decrease of as much as 2.5 Pakistani rupees per unit in the price of electricity, Leghari said.
In April a subsidiary of conglomerate Engro agreed to sell all of its thermal assets, including Pakistan’s leading coal producer, Sindh Engro Coal Mining to Pakistan’s Liberty Power. Liberty said the decision stemmed from Pakistan’s foreign exchange crunch and its indigenous coal reserve potential.
The minister declined to elaborate on the possible talks with China over re-profiling energy debt.
Pakistan’s power sector has been plagued by high rates of power theft and distribution losses, resulting in accumulating debt across the production chain — a concern raised by the IMF.
The government is implementing structural reforms to reduce “circular debt” — public liabilities that build up in the power sector due to subsidies and unpaid bills — by 100 billion Pakistani rupees ($360 million) a year, Leghari said.
Poor and middle-class households have been affected by a previous IMF bailout reached last year, which included raising power tariffs as part of the funding program that ended in April.
Annual power use in Pakistan is expected to fall consecutively for the first time in 16 years as higher tariffs curb household consumption, despite summer temperatures surging to near records, which typically boosts air conditioning and fan use.
“We have seen a shrinking demand trend in the past year or year and a half, and we are expecting this to continue unless we rationalize the price of power,” Leghari said, adding that the government’s major challenge was get demand to stop shrinking.
He said that since the per-unit tariff for power is more expensive, both urban and rural households are moving toward alternatives such as solar.
“Right now we have close to 1,000 megawatts that are on the grid itself in the form of net metering systems and others. It’s a very conservative estimate that (solar) could be five to six times more than that on the grid right now,” Leghari said.
Pakistan to push Chinese utilities in Pakistan to switch to domestic coal
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Pakistan to push Chinese utilities in Pakistan to switch to domestic coal
- Such a transition would benefit the Chinese-owned plants in Pakistan by reducing pressure on Islamabad’s foreign exchange reserves
- The transition could save Pakistan over $700 million a year in imports, translating to a drop of as much as Rs2.5 in per unit electricity price
Pakistan kills 11 militants in separate operations in western provinces
- Military says five Baloch separatist fighters were killed in an intelligence-based operation in Kohlu district
- Police say six Pakistani Taliban died in Lakki Marwat during a joint operation after drone attacks on homes
ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Pakistani security forces and police killed at least 11 militants in separate counterterrorism operations in the country’s western provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, authorities said on Friday, highlighting the distinct insurgencies confronting the country along its border with Afghanistan.
In southwestern Balochistan, the military said it killed separatist militants in an intelligence-based operation in Kohlu District on Dec. 25, while police in the northwestern district of Lakki Marwat fought and killed the Pakistani Taliban.
Pakistan’s military said the Balochistan operation targeted fighters it identified as part of “Fitna al Hindustan,” a term authorities use for Baloch separatist outfits, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which have waged a decades-long insurgency in the resource-rich province.
“During the conduct of operation, own forces effectively engaged the terrorists’ location, and after an intense fire exchange, five Indian sponsored terrorists were sent to hell,” the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement, adding that weapons and explosives were recovered and follow-up clearance operations were underway.
In Lakki Marwat, police said counterterrorism units and local peace committees launched a coordinated operation against militants they described as “khwarij,” a term the Pakistani state uses for factions aligned with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group of militants that primarily operates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to police, six militants were killed and several others wounded during the operation, after authorities said militants had used drone-mounted devices to target residential homes, injuring civilians.
“Protection of life and property of the public is the police’s top priority, and strict, indiscriminate action against khwarij and other anti-peace elements will continue,” Bannu Region Deputy Inspector General Sajjad Khan said in a statement released by the regional police office.
The two operations highlight Pakistan’s parallel security challenges in its western regions.
In Balochistan, separatist groups accuse the federal government and military of marginalizing ethnic Baloch communities and denying them a fair share of the province’s mineral wealth, allegations Islamabad denies.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the TTP has intensified attacks on security forces and civilians since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in Kabul in 2021.
Pakistan has repeatedly said these militant groups operating in both provinces receive backing from India and find shelter in Afghanistan, claims denied by New Delhi and Kabul.
Pakistani authorities said counterterrorism operations will continue nationwide under a campaign approved by the federal government to curb militancy and restore security.
