Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan, the minister for power, has clarified that the fuel charges adjustment (FCA), which will be collected from October to March for consumers with up to 300 units, has not been waived but deferred.
He stated during a news conference on Wednesday in Islamabad that the government is working to assist consumers who are in need, adding that policies are being created with the nation’s economic situation in mind.
According to Khurram, the government decided to make the most use of domestic energy resources rather than relying on pricey imported fuel to produce electricity.The burden on the national exchequer will be reduced, and consumers will receive cheap electricity, he continued, if all electricity generation is switched to domestic sources.
The minister claimed that solar, wind, hydroelectric, coal, and nuclear energy are all environmentally benign and cost-effective domestic energy sources in Pakistan.
In the next years, 11,000 megawatts of electricity will be added to the national grid from these sources, according to him, as the bidding for a 600 megawatt pilot solar project is finished. This will decide the cost of these projects.
According to the federal minister, the government also plans to start solar power projects in rural areas, install solar systems in houses, and solarize agricultural tube wells.
The administration is currently working on several power projects that will add 2,000 megawatts of electricity to the national grid by the end of next year, he stated.
The minister added that the 1,320 megawatt Shanghai Thar coal power plant would be finished by year’s end.
