{"id":3500,"date":"2026-10-29T19:03:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T14:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3500"},"modified":"2026-10-29T19:03:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T14:03:52","slug":"power-sector-circular-debt-reaches-rs1-675-trillion-na-told","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3500","title":{"rendered":"Power sector circular debt reaches Rs1.675 trillion, NA told"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Pakistan\u2019s power sector circular debt has reached Rs1.675 trillion, while capacity payments to electricity producers rose to Rs1.711 trillion in the fiscal year 2025-26, according to written replies submitted to the National Assembly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Energy Minister Awais Leghari informed the House on Thursday that capacity payments stood at Rs1.672 trillion in FY2024-25 before increasing to Rs1.711 trillion in the following fiscal year.<\/p>\n

The government attributed the circular debt to high transmission and distribution losses, low bill recoveries by power distribution companies and financial costs.<\/p>\n

The National Assembly was also informed that the government had not prepared a separate roadmap to achieve its target of generating 90% of electricity from clean energy sources by 2035.<\/p>\n

According to the government\u2019s projections, Pakistan\u2019s total installed power generation capacity is expected to reach 62,383 megawatts by 2035. Under projects approved by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), generation capacity is planned to increase by 16,406MW, with renewable energy sources expected to account for 93% of the additional capacity.<\/p>\n

The government has set a target of increasing the share of renewable energy in total power generation capacity to 60% by 2030.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Battery storage and grid stability<\/h3>\n

To strengthen grid stability, the government has proposed 600MW of battery storage capacity and 1,500 megawatt-hours of energy storage. The estimated investment ranges from $900 million to $915 million, but NEPRA has yet to approve the proposal.<\/p>\n

The revised cost of a 20MW battery storage pilot project at the Jhimpir-I grid station has been estimated at $15.7 million.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Fuel stocks and petroleum payments<\/h3>\n

In a separate written reply, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said Pakistan had approximately 395,000 tonnes of petrol in its reserves as of September 22, 2026. Including supplies at ports and aboard vessels in Pakistani waters, total availability stood at around 506,000 tonnes, sufficient for 22 days of domestic demand.<\/p>\n

Diesel stocks stood at 568,000 tonnes, enough to meet approximately 30 days of requirements.<\/p>\n

The government said oil marketing companies had submitted price differential claims totalling Rs120.3 billion, of which Rs53.8 billion had been paid. Further payments remain subject to document verification and audit.<\/p>\n

Petrol sales increased by around 18% year-on-year in July 2026 but declined by approximately 9% in August compared with the previous month.<\/p>\n

<\/a>LNG cargo diversions and Iranian electricity<\/h3>\n

The government told the House that no financial cost was incurred on unused or diverted liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes during FY2025-26.<\/p>\n

In 2026, Pakistan State Oil diverted 24 cargoes and Pakistan LNG Limited diverted 11 under the net proceeds differential arrangement. The government attributed lower regasified LNG demand to reduced electricity consumption, declining industrial reliance on captive power plants and the growing use of solar energy.<\/p>\n

Leghari also said Iran was supplying up to 204MW of electricity to Balochistan\u2019s Makran region through four cross-border transmission lines serving Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur, Tump, Jiwani, Pasni and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

Approximately $12 million in payments for imported Iranian electricity remained outstanding.<\/p>\n

The government said work to connect Makran with the national electricity grid had been completed, although technical measures to address voltage problems were continuing. The related project is expected to be completed by September 2027.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Government plans to boost salt exports<\/h3>\n

The National Assembly was also informed that Pakistan exported approximately 1.516 million tonnes of processed and raw salt, earning a combined $34.8 million, according to the figures provided in the written reply.<\/p>\n

Processed salt exports amounted to 894,000 tonnes worth $21.4 million, while raw salt exports totalled 622,000 tonnes valued at $13.4 million.<\/p>\n

The government plans to establish two modern processing plants in Warcha, Khushab district, and Kalabagh, Mianwali district, to increase pink salt exports. The facilities are expected to have a combined annual processing capacity of 90,000 tonnes.<\/p>\n

Annual salt export earnings are projected to reach approximately $35.6 million following the planned measures. Efforts are also underway to secure international recognition for the geographical identity of Khewra pink rock salt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pakistan\u2019s power sector circular debt has reached Rs1.675 trillion, while capacity payments to electricity producers rose to Rs1.711 trillion in the fiscal year 2025-26, according to written replies submitted to the National Assembly. Energy Minister Awais Leghari informed the House on Thursday that capacity payments stood at Rs1.672 trillion in FY2024-25 before increasing to Rs1.711 trillion in the following fiscal year. The government attributed the circular debt to high transmission and distribution losses, low bill recoveries by power distribution companies and financial costs. The National Assembly was also informed that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3500\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}