‘Power privatisation will raise tariff’

LAHORE: Former Supreme Court chief justice Syed Naseem Hassan Shah warned on Wednesday the privatisation of profitable Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) distribution companies would lead to a rise in electricity prices. At a press conference in the Bashir Bukhtiar Labour Hall, Mr Shah said the proposed privatisation of the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company and Jamshoro Thermal Power Station “at the behest of the World Bank” was a bad idea. He said private power companies produced energy at rates two and a half times higher than WAPDA’s.

“The World Bank-financed private power house, HUBCO, produces electricity at Rs 6 to 7 per unit, whereas the WAPDA thermal generation plants at Muzafargarh and Guddu spend around Rs 2.50 per unit,” he said. —Staff Report

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