ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Punjab province has requested the Pakistani federal authorities to deploy army along with paramilitary Rangers troops for the security of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 10th edition matches in Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi, it emerged on Monday.
Top teams shunned Pakistan after the 2009 attack on a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, forcing them to relocate home matches, mostly to the United Arab Emirates. It took the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) years to convince foreign counterparts that it was safe to visit.
The PSL 10th edition is scheduled to commence from April 11 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and will conclude on May 18, with the final taking place at the Qaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The six-team tournament will feature 34 matches across four venues, including Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi.
“This will be a high-profile event with the participation of international cricketers, match officials, foreign dignitaries,” the Punjab home department said in a letter to the interior ministry, dated April 5.
“Troops of Pakistan Army, Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) and Army aviation/assets may be requisitioned for protection and security of teams during their stay, travel and movement in Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi from April 6 to May 19.”
Touring sides began returning to Pakistan after the PCB successfully staged its own T20 league in the form of PSL on home soil in 2017.
Since then, PSL, which features city-based franchise teams, has become a major event in Pakistan’s cricket calendar and grown substantially in value and popularity.
Punjab requests deployment of army, paramilitary troops for security of PSL 10th edition
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Punjab requests deployment of army, paramilitary troops for security of PSL 10th edition
- Top teams shunned the South Asian country after the 2009 attack on a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, forcing them to relocate home matches
- It took the PCB years to convince foreign counterparts that Pakistan was safe to visit and foreign teams began returning after it staged its own T20 league
Pakistan PM orders accelerated privatization of power sector to tackle losses
- Tenders to be issued for privatization of three major electricity distribution firms, PMO says
- Sharif says Pakistan to develop battery energy storage through public-private partnerships
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister on Monday directed the government to speed up privatization of state-owned power companies and improve electricity infrastructure nationwide, as authorities try to address deep-rooted losses and inefficiencies in the energy sector that have weighed on the economy and public finances.
Pakistan’s electricity system has long struggled with financial distress caused by a combination of factors including theft of power, inefficient collection of bills, high costs of generating electricity and a large burden of unpaid obligations known as “circular debt.” In the first quarter of the current financial year, government-owned distribution companies recorded losses of about Rs171 billion ($611 million) due to poor bill recovery and operational inefficiencies, official documents show. Circular debt in the broader power sector stood at around Rs1.66 trillion ($5.9 billion) in mid-2025, a sharp decline from past peaks but still a major fiscal drain.
Efforts to contain these losses have been a focus of Pakistan’s economic reform program with the International Monetary Fund, which has urged structural changes in the energy sector as part of financing conditions. Previous government initiatives have included signing a $4.5 billion financing facility with local banks to ease power sector debt and reducing retail electricity tariffs to support economic recovery.
“Electricity sector privatization and market-based competition is the sustainable solution to the country’s energy problems,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a meeting reviewing the roadmap for power sector reforms, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The meeting reviewed progress on privatization and infrastructure projects. Officials said tenders for modernizing one of Pakistan’s oldest operational hubs, Rohri Railway Station, will be issued soon and that the Ghazi Barotha to Faisalabad transmission line, designed to improve long-distance transmission of electricity, is in the initial approval stages. While not all power-sector decisions were detailed publicly, the government emphasized expanding private sector participation and completing priority projects to strengthen the electricity grid.
In another key development, the prime minister endorsed plans to begin work on a battery energy storage system with participation from private investors to help manage fluctuations in supply and demand, particularly as renewable energy sources such as solar and wind take a growing role in generation. Officials said the concept clearance for the storage system has been approved and feasibility studies are underway.
Government briefing documents also outlined steps toward shifting some electricity plants from imported coal to locally mined Thar coal, where a railway line expansion is underway to support transport of fuel, potentially lowering costs and import dependence in the long term.
State authorities also pledged to address safety by converting unmanned railway crossings to staffed ones and to strengthen food safety inspections at stations, underscoring broader infrastructure and service improvements connected to energy and transport priorities.
