Former Vice President of FPCCI Atif Ikram Sheikh on Sunday said high electricity and fuel prices had become a threat to the masses and the country’s economy. The increasing price of energy is eating away purchasing power of the masses and hitting the productive sector, he said. Atif Ikram Sheikh, who has also served as Chairman of PVMA, said in a statement that the government is providing relief to the masses, which is insufficient and marred with mismanagement.

He added that the government should expedite oil and gas exploration in the country by giving incentives to investors while focusing on the key sectors of nuclear energy and green energy so that people can get affordable energy.

At present, an average of 10 billion units of electricity are generated monthly; most of which is generated from imported fuel; therefore, it is costly.

The shortage of gas has halved the supply of gas to the industrial sector and has also reduced the production of captive power plants, he informed.

Dependence on imported fuel is on the rise as dams are running low on water, affecting the production of electricity from cheap sources.

The electricity production from furnace oil and diesel has increased a lot, causing huge financial losses to the government, adding that the electricity demand is rising, which will also increase the losses and circular debt.

Atif Ikram said that clean and green energy is being given priority over all other sources of electricity generation in the world. Still, the red tape in Pakistan has become a major obstacle in this regard.

Authorities have claimed to increase the use of solar energy but also imposed heavy taxes on it, which harmed the sector’s development and drastically reduced the trend of installing solar panels.