Latest news with #Rs221
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Time of India
Work on four-lane road to Alagarkovil to be completed by Nov
Madurai: State public works department (PWD) minister E V Velu on Wednesday inspected road development work for the Melur-Alagarkovil Road expansion to reduce traffic congestion on the major road connecting Alagarkovil hill, where the famous Sundararaja Perumal (Kallazhagar) Temple is located. The work is being undertaken at Rs221 crore under the chief minister's road development programme. Melur-Alagarkovil Road gets a lot of traffic daily, especially because of devotees visiting the Kallazhagar temple . Hence, it was planned and proposed to expand this existing two-lane, 3.14km long stretch from Kallandhiri bridge to Alagarkovil into four-lane to ease traffic congestion. Velu, who was accompanied by state commercial taxes minister P Moorthy, instructed officials to complete the work at the earliest and open the road for public use. Meanwhile, officials said that already two phases as part of the project in 2023 were completed at a cost of Rs20 crore each. In the first phase, a two-lane road connected Alagarkovil Road in Madurai city limits to the outskirts. The second phase consisted of a four-lane road that connected to Kallandhiri under Madurai rural district limits. The final phase from Kallandhiri bridge to Alagarkovil, is to be completed by Nov this year. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Glicemia alta? Pingue isso na água antes de dormir Saúde Melhor Idade Veja agora Undo The PWD minister later inspected various ongoing works in Sivaganga district, including at Keeladi. Velu examined the model videos of the structure for the open air museum at Keeladi being established at a cost of 17.8 crores and instructed the officials to complete the works at the earliest. Meanwhile, Velu, Moorthy, and state IT minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan oversaw the work at Uthangudi for the DMK's upcoming general executive committee meeting to be held in Madurai on June 1.
Express Tribune
05-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Power dues adjustment via NFC
The Power Minister said that the circular debt was also almost stagnant due to the better performance. He said that compared to the estimates of adding Rs411 billion in the flow of the circular debt, there were only Rs2 billion additions during the first nine months of this fiscal year. The total circular debt stood a little under Rs2.4 trillion. PHOTO: REUTERS The federal government on Monday reviewed the possibility of adjusting provincial reconciled outstanding electricity bills' dues against their shares under the National Finance Commission award, after limiting power sector losses to Rs221 billion, down by 40%. The Power Division shared the performance of the power distribution companies with the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, which showed a mixed result in reducing losses and improving collection of the bills. Where there was still some increase in distribution losses, the recoveries did improve during July-March period of this fiscal year, showed the official record shared with the ECC. The ECC instructed the Power Division to further improve the fiscal position of these companies, as both the losses and recoveries were still in breach of the targets given by the power sector regulator; the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra). Compared to the estimates of adding Rs390 billion in the power sectors losses during July-March period, the increase was 221 billion, said Sardar Awais Laghari, the Federal Minister for Power while talking to The Express Tribune. The Minister added that even compared to the same period of the last fiscal year, the losses were Rs143 billion, or 40% less. This showed that the boards of these distribution companies were on track to achieve their targets, except for Hyderabad and Sukkur, said the Power Minister. Last year, the government had replaced the boards of the power distribution companies but did not touch Hyderabad and Sukkur boards due to an understanding reached with the Pakistan Peoples Party. The Minister said that after improving recoveries from the private sector, his ministry has now sought the Finance Ministry's help in recovering outstanding dues from federal and provincial governments. In December, the federal government had asked all four provincial governments to clear their electricity bills amounting to Rs150 billion to avoid power cuts and financial losses to the national economy. Sindh tops the list with payables totalling Rs59.7 billion as of September last year, followed by Balochistan's Rs39.6 billion and Punjab's Rs38 billion, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has the lowest electricity payables amounting to Rs8.9 billion. A Finance Ministry official said that there was a mechanism available to adjust only those dues, which are reconciled and confirmed by the provincial governments. These payments are adjusted against the NFC dues but only when these are confirmed by the provinces, he added. According to the information shared with the ECC, compared to 15.14% losses during the first nine months of the last year, the figure slightly jumped to 15.7% this March. The reason behind the increase was the poor performance of Quetta, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Gujranwala and Lahore. The Faisalabad, Islamabad, Multan, Peshawar and Tribal districts companies reduced their losses compared to the last year. The bills' recoveries improved from 92% to 93.8% this March because of better performance of all companies except tribal districts, Hyderabad and Sukkur firms. The Power Minister said that the circular debt was also almost stagnant due to the better performance. He said that compared to the estimates of adding Rs411 billion in the flow of the circular debt, there were only Rs2 billion additions during the first nine months of this fiscal year. The total circular debt stood a little under Rs2.4 trillion. Among other decisions, the ECC took up a summary submitted by the Petroleum Division for extension in the validity period of sovereign guarantees issued against running finance facilities of Rs50 billion obtained from banks for LNG payments by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL). The Committee discussed the matter and approved extension up to June 2026 of the said sovereign guarantees, on the basis of improved cash flows of the company, according to the Finance Ministry. The ECC also considered a summary by the Power Division regarding the solarisation of 27,000 agriculture tube-wells in Balochistan, as decided by the Prime Minister on 2nd July 2024, at an estimated cost of Rs55 billion. The 70% subsidy has to be borne by the federal government. The ECC was told that an amount of Rs14 billion has already been released by the federal government while the remaining Rs24.5 billion was approved on Monday. Furthermore, the ECC further instructed the Power Division to closely monitor implementation of key components of the project, particularly the disconnection of tube-wells from the grid and removal of transformers and fixtures for every batch of feeders, as agreed under the project. The ECC also directed the Power Division to report back the progress on this account to ECC, in July.
Business Recorder
25-04-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Jul '24 to Mar '25: Discos' ‘inefficiencies' result in Rs221bn loss: PD
ISLAMABAD: The Power Division claims that inefficiencies of DISCOs (excess losses and under recoveries) for the period July 2024 to March 2025 stood at Rs221 billion compared to Rs364 billion during the same period of previous year, while registering a decrease of Rs143 billion. In a written reply to a question, the Senate was informed on Friday that the current per unit electricity for single phase domestic consumers for 201-300 units slab in April is Rs39. The quarterly tariff adjustment and fuel charges adjustment may change in upcoming months based on underlying economic variable. Against the Nepra-determined base rate of Rs36.89/unit for 201-300 units slab, the government of Pakistan is currently charging Rs32.55/unit and accordingly providing subsidy of Rs4.34/unit based on the socioeconomic objectives and budgetary targets in filed. The House was further informed that prime minister announced that on the consumption of April month the consumer will get benefit reduction of Rs7.41 (inclusive of taxes). This reductions in bill includes per unit reduction impact in cost of electricity and major component is due to IPPs renegotiation, some portion has already been applied through April bill through second quarter decision and FCA and remaining amount shall be passed on after hearing by Nepra for 3rd quarter. The House was also informed that Neelum Jhelum is a complex hydropower project having 68km of tunneling system. Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project has been closed since May 2024 due to blockage in headrace tunnels. To ascertain the reasons of blockage in the tunnel, dewatering of tunnel has already been completed and debris accumulated in the tunnel is being removed. The prime minister of Pakistan has already constituted a Committee to ascertain the causes and Wapda will proceed on the recommendations of the Committee. The House was informed that the federal government, through the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), is financing construction of small, medium, and large dams across the country. Since 2018, 47 dam projects have been completed with federal financing, adding approximately 307,940.61 acre-feet of water storage capacity and facilitating irrigation of 296,537 acres of land. Further, provincial governments have completed 80 dam projects under their respective Annual Development Programs (ADPs) since 2018, collectively contributing an addition of 122,514 acre-feet of water storage capacity and enabling irrigation of 68;016 acres of land. In the current financial year, the federal government is sponsoring 32 dam projects which are at various stages of development. Estimated cost of these projects is Rs1,056.985 billion. Upon completion, these projects will provide a cumulative water storage capacity of approximately 8,429,288 acre-feet, bringing 436,932 acres of new land under irrigation. Provincial governments are sponsoring the construction of 79 dam projects in current financial year at an estimated cost of Rs83.400 billion. These projects once completed will collectively provide a storage capacity of approximately 347,940 acre-feet, bringing 109,966 acres of new land under irrigation. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
