Latest news with #Rs591
Business Recorder
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Discos's miraculous second half recovery
The Ministry of Energy (Power Division) has taken to social media and press briefings with a celebratory tone, touting a dramatic decline in inefficiency losses by discos during FY25 — from Rs591 billion in the previous year to Rs400 billion. A reduction of Rs191 billion is no small feat. But let's not lose sight of the fact that a Rs400 billion loss is still nothing short of catastrophic. It may be a better year, but it's far from a good one. What truly deserves a double take is what transpired in the second half of FY25. According to the Power Minister, recoveries surged to 96.06 percent for the full year — up from a modest 92.02 percent at the end of December 2024. That's a lot of ground covered in just six months. Some might even call it… magical. To put things into perspective: at the halfway mark of the fiscal year, discos had billed Rs3.12 trillion and collected Rs2.87 trillion — a shortfall of Rs249 billion. And then, in the remaining six months, they somehow managed to collect Rs117 billion more than what they billed. In other words, the second half of FY25 witnessed over 100 percent recovery. Approximately 3 billion units' worth of 'extra' collection materialized. Remarkable, no? Of course, consumption patterns, seasonal variations, and tariff structures differ across fiscal halves — that much is fair. But historically, it is the second half that has contributed the lion's share of inefficiency losses — about 60 percent in each of the past two years. That this trend reversed so dramatically in FY25, and with lower effective tariffs in Q4 no less, is a statistical curiosity. The Minister also claimed the recovery was the highest in history. Not quite. FY21 still holds the title at 97 percent. So while the recovery this year may be impressive, it's not unprecedented. Unless, of course, we're using a new definition of "record-breaking." Now, if the recovery side of DISCO inefficiencies is truly turning a corner — that would be welcome news. But for now, let's just say we await Nepra's State of Industry Report for a little more. Whenever it arrives. The second half of the inefficiency equation — Transmission & Distribution (T&D) losses — tells a different story. Here, performance has remained stubbornly poor. The T&D loss rate is still hovering close to 18 percent — miles away from Nepra's target of 11.4 percent. In financial terms, the 'improvement' has been a mere Rs10 billion. Hardly worth framing. Worse still, the gap between allowed and actual T&D losses is now the widest in recent memory. Over the last seven years, losses have moved within a tight band — and not in a good way. There has been little meaningful progress despite ambitious targets and consistent tariff adjustments. And let's not forget — these calculations only account for losses above the allowed threshold. The rest are already priced into consumer tariffs. So, every extra percentage point of inefficiency is a direct transfer from taxpayers and bill-payers to system leakage. In sum: one half of the disco loss problem appears to have undergone a miraculous transformation — or so we're told. The other half continues to underwhelm. Until both parts of the puzzle are fixed — with transparency and structural reform rather than spin — the sector's chronic inefficiencies will remain business as usual.
Express Tribune
11-07-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Leaking DISCOs
Listen to article As Pakistan begins to inch toward a long-overdue path of economic recovery, the government has been eager to highlight improvements across sectors — none more so than the power sector, where Federal Minister for Energy Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari claims a "success" in reducing electricity theft and losses by Rs192 billion. But in truth, this is a damning reminder of how deep-rooted dysfunction continues to plague DISCOs, and how these entities remain one of the biggest drags on the country's economic revival. The Rs591 billion loss inflicted by government-run DISCOs in FY2023-24 is a symptom of institutional rot. While the minister points to a reduction to Rs399 billion as a sign of progress, let us not forget that this remaining burden is still being shouldered by taxpayers and honest bill-payers. The breakdown of the losses is as follows: Rs315 billion lost due to unpaid bills and Rs276 billion attributed to electricity theft. Even with improved recovery rates and marginal savings, the fact remains that nearly Rs400 billion continues to bleed from the system every year. This is a massive leakage in an economy. Power theft, non-recovery and technical inefficiencies all stem from the same root cause: a lack of governance and accountability. For years, DISCOs have been run on the basis of political patronage and outdated systems that allow theft and corruption to flourish unchecked. While reforms and merit-based board appointments are welcome, they are not a silver bullet. Without independent audits and zero-tolerance enforcement on corruption, these reforms will remain cosmetic. The bar should not be so low that reducing theft is considered a success. DISCOs must be transformed from politically compromised entities into professional, performance-driven utilities. As Pakistan enters a new fiscal year with hopes of economic renewal, one message must be clear that recovery will not be possible without root-and-branch reform of the power sector.
Express Tribune
11-07-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
DISCOs cause Rs591b losses, says Leghari
Listen to article Federal Minister for Energy Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said on Thursday that power distribution companies (DISCOs) were responsible for electricity theft worth Rs591 billion. During fiscal year 2023-24, 10 government-run DISCOs placed a burden of Rs591 billion on the country and taxpayers. "We have successfully reduced power theft from Rs591 billion to Rs399 billion," Leghari said while addressing a press conference. He said that the Power Division had made significant progress in introducing reforms that resulted in improvement in the power sector, under the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. "This is the first time in history that the government has reduced such losses through focused reforms," he added. Leghari stated that the government had already ensured transparency in appointing board members. He emphasised the need to inform the public about the scale and reasons of the losses DISCOs were facing. "Had these losses not been suffered, the country could have paid off its debt, initiated development schemes in various areas and used taxpayers' money for national progress," the minister remarked, adding that the prime minister, the entire cabinet and the government's coalition partners were seriously concerned about the losses. Therefore, the government launched a campaign to cut losses and bring improvement in the power sector one year ago. On the prime minister's instructions, the government took the initiative to implement positive governance reforms and ensure that appointments on boards and in companies were made on merit, rather than continuing the long-standing practice of hiring based on personal connections and political recommendations. Owing to those reforms, he said, the government reduced losses from Rs591 billion to Rs399 billion – an objective achieved even before the targeted deadline. Despite facing challenges, the process of reforms will continue. Leghari pointed out that financial figures for the fiscal year ended June 30 were encouraging. He said that two major losses were discovered – the first being when electricity bills of companies could not be collected and the second were technical and non-technical (T&D) losses; when electricity was supplied by DISCOs but was not billed, which was essentially an electricity theft. Out of the total losses of Rs591 billion, Rs315 billion was due to non-recovery of bills. The overall recovery rate of electricity bills was 92.4% last year, which jumped up to 96.6% this year, which was for the first time in history. However, power companies still failed to recover Rs132 billion in bills. He shared that Rs276 billion worth of electricity was stolen last year and DISCOs worked hard to reduce the losses. Some companies succeeded in reducing line losses, resulting in savings of Rs11 billion by curtailing electricity theft. The minister also shared detailed performance of all distribution companies. He said that Lahore Electricity Supply Company (Lesco) performed particularly well and uncovered a massive electricity theft scandal. However, some influential people are now trying to launch inquiries against those who took action against electricity theft. The prime minister, he said, is committed to supporting the officers and staff who are leading the battle for reforms and continuing their efforts to stop theft. He highlighted the scale of the problem, noting that a single furnace-based industrial unit stole more electricity in a month than an entire village did in five years. In the past, action was mostly taken against small consumers, while large-scale theft went unnoticed. This year, he said, the focus would be on controlling large-scale losses and industrial theft, so that the progress made during the past year could continue.
Time of India
10-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Kurichi-Kuniyamuthur UGD project to be fully commissioned by July
Coimbatore: Now that the for the Kurichi-Kuniyamuthur underground drainage (UGD) project has reached its final leg, the project is expected to be fully commissioned by July. While work on the Rs591 crore project started in 2018, it missed the 2021 deadline owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and delayed approval from the railway department for laying the pipeline across the Podanur-Pollachi railway to an official source, work on laying the pipeline across the railway line was pending for long, prompting authorities to commission the project until the railway line. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "We had to lay the pipeline for 300 meters across the Podanur-Pollachi railway line. We have laid the pipeline for 200 metres and now just 100 metres is left. Work on both the water supply and UGD pipelines is being carried out simultaneously in collaboration with the railways, Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board and the city corporation," the source said. The railways is also constructing an iron rail over-bridge and an underground box culvert to support the pipeline work. Commenting on the project progress, a official said, "Work on the box culvert and over-bridge is pending only by another 50 meters and 25 metres, respectively. Once all these are completed, the project is ready to go. However, house service connections will begin only after laying the pipeline. Two of the four pumping stations are already commissioned. Now, the focus is on integrating the connections from the remaining two pumping stations on Chatram Street and at Chinna Sudugadu. "When contacted, corporation commissioner M Sivaguru Prabhakaran said the pipeline laying work on the railway crossing section would be completed by May 20. "After that, we will proceed with house service connections, which will take another two and half months. The total target is 42,000 house service connections, of which 7,500 have already been completed. The total processing capacity of the project is 10 million litres per day."
