By Commerce Reporter
LAHORE — The federal government has acknowledged that the cancellation and revision of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) contracts have resulted in savings of around Rs 3,600 billion over recent years.
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A few months ago, APTMA Patron-in-Chief Gohar Ejaz had raised the issue of IPPs, which has now borne fruit. The country’s industrial community has lauded his efforts and expressed gratitude for his courageous stand against the powerful IPP lobby.
According to industrial sources, about 20 years ago, 40 IPPs were awarded highly expensive power generation contracts. Despite not producing electricity at times, they continued to receive billions of rupees annually in capacity payments from the national exchequer.
Experts say these costly IPP contracts burdened the public, extracting nearly Rs 3.6 trillion every year from citizens’ pockets. Industrialists claim that a handful of influential families used the IPP system to hold the country hostage for decades.
Despite the government’s success in canceling and revising several IPP deals under heavy pressure from powerful lobbies, industry sources lament that no punitive action has been taken against those responsible for years of exploitation.
Industrial leaders have demanded strict accountability for IPP owners who collected billions from the government despite keeping their power plants closed.
They also noted that ordinary citizens have begun to feel relief from the financial strain caused by the exploitative IPP agreements.
