Govt to discuss issues facing businesspeople at every level: Sindh energy minister

KARACHI: Sindh Energy Minister Syed Nasir Shah stated that the government is standing with the business community. It has already established SEPRA for the provincial electricity matters and planning to discuss business communities’ issues at the provincial and federal levels.

He was speaking at a multi-stakeholder conference on Competitive Electricity Market organised by Renewables First and the Pakistan Business Forum (PBF), with the support of the Private Power & Infrastructure Board (PPIB), aimed at to set out a clear goal: to move beyond the monopolistic, single-buyer model towards a transparent, multi-stakeholder competitive regime, where electricity can be directly traded between producers and consumers.

The conference began with a keynote speech from Chief Organiser PBF, Ahmad Jawad, CEO Renewables First, Zeeshan Ashfaq and Tauseef H Farooqi, ex-chairman NEPRA who highlighted the significance of moving towards a competitive electricity market for affordable electricity and Pakistan’s economy. The Competitive Trading Bilateral Contracts Market (CTBCM) is a thirty year old reform program which has been approved by the Economic Coordination Committee and Nepra; however, remains to be operationalized. In the conference, Salman Amin, member Competition Commission of Pakistan highlighted that the monopolistic structure of Pakistan’s power sector remains a major concern, saying with the help of CTBCM, we can finally move towards competition and efficiency.

Abdul Rehman, Associate at Renewables First, explained the elements and history of the CTBCM reform, noting that the government has decided to launch the competitive electricity market with an initial 800MW, to be increased in the future.

Other speakers including Tahir Basharat Cheema and Amjad Ali Raja emphasised the need to open the market for bilateral electricity trade to ensure fair competition and transparency.

However, Junaid Naqi, President Korangi Association of Trade and Industry, Mujtaba Khan CEO Reon, Rehan Javed FPCCI, Saleha Hassan and others stated that without serious reforms, the national electricity grid was headed for collapse, and the government must consult industrial stakeholders to figure out the way forward.

Highlighting the importance of clean, cheap, and reliable supply of electricity for the industries, they said that over 80 percent of the proposed wheeling is composed of stranded costs and cross-subsidies, making open access prohibitively expensive. Instead, the government must opt for a phased and transparent recovery mechanism which does not burden the ordinary consumers while at the same time making the wheeling charges attractive for industrial stakeholders.

The moot demanded that the government provide a clear, consistent, and long-term plan for the recovery of stranded assets and ensure market growth under CTBCM. It also demanded that the government not limit the market size to 800 MW which was too small. The market appetite is much larger, and if provided fairness in wheeling and facilitation, the industry would happily participate.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025