10!

The Nation:

Thursday, July 02; 2026 | Lahore


Labour unions demand immediate f-
halt to Discos privatisation, warn
of higher tariffs, job losses

OUR STAFF REPORTER
“* ISLAMABAD


* Public sector labour unions on‘
* Wednesday called on the fed
“eral government to Immediate-
ly halt the proposed privatisa-:
: tion of electricity. distribution”


i companies (DISCOs), warning ~

that the move. would increase.
‘electricity’ tariffs, . threaten
? workers’ fobs and deepen the’
/. country’s power sector crisis.
Addressing ‘a ‘press ‘confer-*
vence at‘ the National Press”
Club (NPC), trade unions affill-;
zated with the Public Services
{International (PSI) cited the,
“findings of a newly launched.
" Feport, “Paying More for Less:: i
: Payments and Profits in Paki-!
‘stan’s’ Privatised Power ‘Sec-:


tor,” which argues that privati-.
sation in the power generation,
sector has delivered substan='
tial profits to private compa-!
nies without significantly im-.
proving electricity generation. ;
~The report, jointly commis-
sioned by PS! and Friedrich
Ebert Stiftung (FES) Pakistan,
and prepared by the Centre for
International Corporate ‘.Tax

j ence held in Islamabad, —


| Accountability and. Research
(CICTAR), was unveiled during
the National Labour Confer-

‘According to the report, pay-
ments to Independent Power
Producers (IPPs) under power
purchase “. agreements’ more
than doubled between ‘2021

4 and 2024, with capacity pay- .

ments accounting for over 60
percent of total payments dur-
ing the last two years, Despite
trillions of rupees. invested in
Private ‘generation: over. the
past decade, actual electricity
supplied by the private sector
has shown little growth, while
public séctor power plants now
produce nearly two-thirds of
the: country’s electricity.” La-
bour leaders argued that sever*

PC extends deadline for
_ Submission of EOIs for

OUR STAFF REPORTER .
"ISLAMABAD “

Th   Privatisation: Commis-
sion of Pakistan has extended
the deadline for the submis-
sion of expressions of interest
{EOIs) for the’ privatisation
of Faisalabad Electric Sup-
ply Company’ (FESCO) and
Gujranwala Electric: Power
Company (GEPCO) under the
government's Batch-I DISCOs
privatisation programme. :

-The revised deadlines are
as. FESCO; August 7,, 2026
and GEPCO:‘" August / 21,
2026. However, the deadline
for the submission of EOI
for the’ Islamabad Electric

Supply" Company® (IESCO} :
remains the same which is‘
September _7th,: 2026.: The:
extension has: been grant-
‘ed in response to requests.
from’ prospective investors
to allow additional time, for
‘completing ;' their = Internal ©

evaluations :and preparing *

-comprchensive submissions.

*The. government .of Paki-.
‘stan is offering 51% to 100%
Shareholding, together with

" ‘management control, in the

‘privatisation of firstbatch °
of distribution companies as?
part of [ts broader economic
reform « and. privatisation
‘agenda. The objective is to at-

tract strategic investors capa-*,

ble of enhancing operational

efficiency, improving service
delivery, reducing losses, and
strengthening the country’s
power distribution sector. ;
The Privatisation Commis-
“sion remains committed to
conducting a tansparent,
“competitive, 'and  investor-
friendly. process that en-
courages broad’ participa-
tion from qualified local and
"international. investors, : In-
terested parties may obtain
further information from the
Privatisation Commission or
Its Financlal Advisor, Alvarez
& Marsal Middle East Lim-
ited, and submit their EOls by
the revised deadlines: _—

al private companies. continued
receiving billions of rupees In

capacity payments despite de- -
_ lining ‘electricity’ generation, -

urging the government to con-

duct an independent review of *
existing power purchase agree- :

ments before proceeding with
any further privatisation. “"""”

CICTAR researcher and lead :
‘author of the: report, Edward :
‘Miller, said policies designed to :

attract private investment had

generated ‘enormous -. profits .
for investors, while burdening
consumers with rising electric- ‘:
{ty prices without Increasing :
‘actual power’ generation, He ;

warned that as more consum-

‘ers leave the national grid due
to soaring tariffs, the financial -
burden would increasingly fall =
on the country’s most vulnera-
ble citizens, adding that further *.;

privatisation of. distribution

companies. would ‘not resolve .
‘the: structural problems : eres
‘ated in’ the generation’ sector, :
Addressing the media:on the ‘+

occasion, All Pakistan WAPDA

Hydro Electric Workers Union -
(APWHEWU) President Abdul :
Latif. Nizamani said WAPDA -

workers continued to power the *
country’s economy at far lower
costs while private companies
received billions for idle assets.

: He alleged that privatisation
had resulted in job losses, in-
securé employment ‘and unaf-
fordable electricity, adding that
electricity was a public service
that should remain under dem-
ocrati¢ public control. General

‘Secretary of the CDA Mazdoor

Union, Ch’: Muhammad - Yasin
referred to the’ union's recent

Mctory before’ the National In- ”

dustrial Relations Commission
(NIRC), where the commission

tuled against the outsourcing of *

key public services in the Capi 2
tal Development Authority:


WB report urges stronger | Govt urged to allow 2
fiscal federalism to sustain
growth, i improve services

IMRAN ALI KUNDI
ISLAMABAD


‘Strengthening how public resources
+ areshared across Pakistan's three tiers
3,of government: federal, provincial and
 local - is essential to sustaining macro-

* economic stability, improving public.

‘ services, and meeting the needs of'a
! rapidly growing population, according
* to anew World Bank report, Strength-
: ening Fiscal Federalism in Pakistan.
The report finds: that the-land-
mark 2010 reforms = the 18th Con-
“stitutionat Amendment and the 7th
National Finance Commission (NFC)
* Award -' marked a major step for
ward, devolving’ major service de-
: livery responsibilities to the
: provinces and significant-
ily increasing their rev-
“enues.. .Nevertheless;”
* structural weaknesses
_ in the system continue
Lto pose challenges for.
‘iMiscal - discipline,. con-
: strain revenue mobiliza-~ \
i. ton, 'and affect the quality =
1, of services that reach citizens. |.
.. The report identifies two main face
tors behind the widening of the feder«
:al fiscal deficit: an increase in transfers
: following the 7th NFC Award that was
“not matched by adjustment in federal

‘expenditures, and stagnant revenue,

~ collection.‘ Provincial revenues rose

. from less than. 4 percent of GDP to ©

zan average of 6.5 percent over 2010-
* 2024, yet federal expenditures did not,
‘decline commensurably. The division


:of the tax base ‘across, five jurisdic-,

tions has raised compliance costs and
“constrained revenue, At the same time
“agricultural income remains largely

, untaxed despite the sector accounting

| for more than 20 percent of GD
“Pakistan took a historic step
42010 by bringing government closer


‘devolution has"yet to be realizéd,”
:said Bolormaa Amgaabazar, World

Bank Country Director for Pakistan.

"Aligning financing with responsi--

bilities," broadening: the tax base,
and ensuring that resources reach

‘schools, clinics, and local communi-
ities are essential to sustaining stabil-

ity and delivering better services to
Pakistan's growing population.”


«The report also finds. that devolu-

tion has so far had limited impact in

-aligning public spending with needs;

‘The formula for distributing resourc-

‘es across provinces does not provide’

“allocations in line with fiscal needs or
create strong incentives for provincial
revenue. effort and service delivery

crease In provincial spend-
ing since’ the..7th NFC
Award was ‘absorbed
by “administrative ® ex-
penses rather than ed-
ucation or health, with
more than 80 percent
of expenditure in FY23
used ‘ta .meet recurrent
“ costs, Spending across districts

‘has continued to track historical prec-
cedent rather than poverty levels or

‘service delivery gaps. The share of to-

.tal government spending undertaken

by local governments has, meanwhile,
fallen from around 10 percent in 2005
to under 5 percent in 2024.:

=0The structure of fiscal federalism
shapes whether children attend func-.
tioning schools. and whether. health
facilities are stocked with medicines,


“said Tobias Haque, World Bank Lead

Country Economist and lead author of.

“the report, “A planned new NFC Award
‘offers an important.  opportunity  to

recalibrate: incentives.
provinces that strengthen their own,
revenue effort and improve service de-


clivery, while directing more resources
to where needs are greatest.”


performance. Much of the in--


immediate export
of surplus sugar:

’ OUR STAFF REPORTER a
ISLAMABAD :

Pakistan Sugar’ Mills’ Association has urged  the :
government to allow immediate export of surplus ©
Sugar: A general body meeting of Pakistan Sugar *
Mills Association (North Zone) was held at Lahore
Wednesday, which was presided over by North Zone
Chairman Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam. Members
from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa participated
in meeting. Chaudhry Muhammad Astam said that
the government promised in writing on 14th July
2028 to allow export of surplus sugar above 7 mil-

lion metric tons of sugar within a month of close of |

2025-26 crushing season and subsequently also
promised to completely deregulate the sugar sector
like other industries by June 2026 and to remove
restrictions on export and import of sugar: Unfortu-
nately, ail these promises have not been fulfilled yet.

Members of PSMA stated that Pakistan's sugar In-

dustry produced more sugar than domestic needs
during the 2025-26 crushing season while the in-
dustry is facing serious difficulties in this regard.
With domestic consumption of 6.6 million metric
tons of sugar out of the existing stock of 7.9 MMT of
sugar, a surplus of 1.3 million metric tons of sugar
is available. The participa