Former caretaker minister and textile industry leader Gohar Ejaz has criticized Independent Power Producers (IPPs) for overcharging, alleging that the government is purchasing electricity from certain power plants at Rs 750 per unit.
In a social media statement on Sunday, Gohar Ejaz revealed that, on average, the government is purchasing electricity from coal power plants at Rs 200 per unit, while some Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are charging up to Rs 750 per unit.
He also stated that wind and solar power units are being paid more than Rs 50 per unit. According to his tweet, the most expensive IPPs have received a total of Rs 1.95 trillion.
Gohar Ejaz highlighted that the government is paying 140 billion rupees to one power plant operating at a 15% load factor, 120 billion rupees to another with a 17% load factor, and 100 billion rupees to a third plant at a 22% load factor. He emphasized that these three power plants alone are receiving a total of 370 billion rupees.
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Gohar Ejaz criticized the IPPs for receiving substantial capacity payments without actually generating electricity. He revealed that 52% of these plants are government-owned, while 28% are privately held.
He accused corrupt contracts of driving up electricity costs to 60 rupees per unit and urged the public to speak out against these agreements, which benefit just 40 families, to protect the country.
Gohar Ejaz stated that the decision regarding the IPPs is now in the hands of the public. He criticized the “capacity payments” clause in the contracts, which he claimed allows for inflated profits and results in excessive payments to the IPPs.
Ejaz also revealed that Rs 450 billion was paid to these producers in the first three months of the current year.
Gohar Ejaz has called for the public disclosure of records regarding capacity payments made to the IPPs and the data on their generation costs. He also demanded that existing agreements with the IPPs be converted to a “take and pay” model.
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