Government decides to raise power tariff: Khawaja Asif

ISLAMABAD: As part of its new power policy, the government’s decision to raise the power tariff was announced by Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif.

Briefing the media on the new power policy, approved by the Council of Common Interest (CCI) on Wednesday, the minister said hike in power tariff for industrial and commercial consumers would be applicable from August 01 while for household consumers it will be applicable from October.

The new power tariffs would be announced soon, he added.

Water and Power Minister said the demand of electricity in the country was around 18,000 MW and generation stood at 15,300 MW. Average load shedding in the country was 8 to 9 hours, he said.

Khawaja Asif said the government wanted to shift power generation from oil to coal. He said they were struggling to sustain power generation at 15,000 MW.

The new government had cleared Rs480 billion circular debt, he added.