Islamabad: Federal Energy Minister Owais Ahmed Khan Leghari has dismissed reports suggesting the government may extend the protected electricity slab to consumers using up to 300 units per month. He warned that such a move would require an unsustainable annual subsidy of Rs 275 billion.
Responding to questions in the National Assembly, Leghari clarified that no electricity tariff has been set for cryptocurrency-related consumption and revealed that the national grid currently has around 7,000 MW of surplus capacity. He added that subsidies and concessional tariffs are already in place for consumers using less than 200 units a month.
The minister explained that Pakistan has over 35 million grid-connected consumers, with 90% of the bill subsidized for those using 0–100 units, and a 70% subsidy for those consuming between 101–200 units. He stressed that under the slab system, every unit consumed has a cost implication, and removing the cap at 200 units would force the government to impose limits at higher consumption brackets, such as 251 or 301 units.
Leghari stated that extending the 300-unit rate to 200-unit consumers would cost the exchequer Rs 275 billion annually — a burden the government cannot afford given the current economic climate. He noted that 18.3 million consumers currently fall under the below-200-unit category, and their electricity rates have been cut by 60% over the past nine months.
He further pointed out that cross-subsidies collected from the industrial sector, which stood at Rs 255 billion in June 2024, have been reduced to Rs 94 billion. Overall, the average electricity tariff, including taxes, has dropped from Rs 48.7 per unit to Rs 38.4 per unit. Rates for protected consumers have been slashed by 58%, while non-protected consumers have seen reductions of 11% to 17%.
Leghari also announced that the federal cabinet has approved the creation of competitive electricity markets for industrial consumers, with an application already submitted to the regulator to set wheeling charges. He added that the government has decided not to purchase any additional electricity moving forward.
