Islamabad: Federal Minister for Energy, Owais Leghari, announced a significant improvement in Pakistan’s power sector, attributing the positive change to the government’s robust governance and reform initiatives. Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Leghari highlighted substantial reductions in financial losses within the electricity transmission system and a record-high recovery rate for electricity bills.
According to Leghari, the power sector’s losses, which stood at a staggering 591 billion rupees in the last fiscal year (2023-24), have been successfully brought down to 399 billion rupees. This achievement far surpasses the government’s initial target of a 100 billion rupee reduction, marking an impressive overall decrease of 191 billion rupees in losses for electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) during 2024-25. The minister revealed that new boards have been constituted across all DISCOs under the special directives of the Prime Minister, with appointments made strictly on merit and transparency, eliminating the culture of recommendations. Each board has been empowered to make decisions based on its own strategy, fostering improved performance.
Leghari also detailed stringent actions taken against electricity theft, a major challenge for the sector. He noted that while the total amount of electricity stolen nationwide remained at 276 billion rupees, a reduction of 10 to 11 billion rupees was achieved in theft-related losses. Specifically, in Gujranwala alone, electricity worth 60 billion rupees was prevented from being stolen. The government’s current focus is squarely on both recovery and the complete eradication of electricity theft. Furthermore, Leghari underscored a historic achievement in bill recovery. He stated that DISCOs collectively failed to recover 315 billion rupees last year, a serious issue that has now been addressed. For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the recovery rate for electricity bills has climbed to an impressive 96 percent, signaling a crucial step towards the rehabilitation of the power sector. The government is now fully committed to ensuring that all information is presented transparently to the public, facilitating accountability and further improvements in the electricity sector.
