Nepra refuses Rs32 per unit tariff for Jamshoro project.

ISLAMABAD -- The National ElectAric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Tuesday showed reluctance to allow about Rs32 per unit generation tariff for the 660-megawatt Jamshoro coal-based power plant as inordinate delays escalated its cost despite payment of loan commitment charges to the Asian Development Bank for years.

'Who will pay such a high tariff?' questioned Nepra Chairman Tauseef H. Farooqui who presided over a public hearing on the issue. He said the regulator also had to protect the interests of the consumers and hence could not allow such a high tariff.

The government had secured loans for the project more than a decade ago for the conversion of its old and inefficient oil-based generation units to coal but physical progress could begin only recently.

The hearing was informed that the federal government had now released Rs9bn as equity to kick off work on the stalled project and local banks had declined to extend Rs10bn due to reluctance of the federal government to release money against its equity.

It was reported that Pakistan had been paying commitment charges to the foreign lender for years as the work had been stalled for want of local funding.

The ADB had committed financing for the Jamshoro coal-based power project but the equity was not being arranged from the government side. Planning Commission representatives said Rs9bn funds had been released as project equity. They also confirmed that the loan money could...