Latest news with #Rs545
Express Tribune
03-04-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Poultry prices remain sky-high in Hazara
Even after three days of Eidul Fitr, poultry prices in various districts of the Hazara region have not decreased, maintaining an all-time high surge witnessed during the last two days of Ramazan. Despite the issuance of official price lists by the district administrations of Abbottabad, Mansehra, and Battagram, poultry and meat are still being sold at inflated rates in several areas, raising concerns among consumers. According to the latest price list, chicken is being sold at Rs540 per kg, while breeder chicken is priced at Rs400 per kg. In Mansehra, the price of farm chicken has been fixed at Rs545 per kg, whereas in Battagram, it has reached Rs555 per kg, making it the highest in the region. However, reports indicate that in several parts of Mansehra and other districts, poultry meat is being sold at significantly higher rates than the official prices. Consumers have expressed frustration over the lack of enforcement by the district administrations and have urged authorities to take strict action against profiteers. Poultry traders, on the other hand, attribute the price hike to increased demand during the Eid holidays, supply chain disruptions, and rising feed costs. Local residents have called upon the relevant authorities to conduct strict price monitoring and ensure that the official price lists are implemented effectively to provide relief to consumers.
Express Tribune
14-03-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Solar puzzle
Listen to article There is a policy dichotomy at work in the energy realm solely meant to discourage solar power consumers. The jugglery of math suggests that the government will now buy back electricity for Rs10 per unit from new net-metering consumers, a slash of Rs17 from the previous tariff, whereas those purchasing power from the grid will continue to pay from Rs42 to Rs65 per unit, excluding taxes and duties. The new net metering policy has met with a difference of opinion among the cabinet stalwarts themselves, as many disapprove of it as a bad signal to the market, as well as those on off-grid solarisation and agricultural tube-wells. A simple one-liner explanation for this change of heart is that there is a significant increase in the number of solar net-metering consumers, resulting in strain on national exchequer. The new framework has also scrapped net billing, and the existing consumers will gradually come under this dictum as their seven-year contracts expire. Moreover, consumers will no longer be allowed to install solar capacity exceeding their sanctioned load, except for a 10 per cent cushion; and imported and exported units shall be treated separately, apart from denying consumers the privilege to encash credited units. The decision has come close on the heels of a measure to reduce circular debt by obtaining a loan of Rs1.25 trillion from the commercial banks, in an earnest attempt to appease IPPs with outstanding payments, and to stay afloat on a lower interest rate for ensuring timely payments for new energy purchases. Thus, the new calculation in the solar sector will save the government a staggering Rs545 billion by the year 2034, as the cost of net-metering will escalate to Rs3.6 per unit. This decorum is not only puzzling but highly unrealistic, and will result in lower investments in future on solar panels. It also defeats an earlier policy of mushrooming renewable power generation avenues. Perhaps, the intention is to compel consumers to stay on the expensive grid, which sells electricity at an exorbitant, scuttling growth and exports.
