Industries will have to pay Rs 22.98 per unit for consumption above their previous levels.
In a bid to promote industrial and agricultural development in the country, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) approved concessional tariffs on additional electricity consumption following a government reference.
Industries across the country are increasingly turning to solar energy to cope with rising electricity costs and frequent outages. These include the textile, cement, pharmaceutical, rice milling and agricultural sectors, while households are also switching to solar energy due to the rising cost of electricity. Earlier this year, the country reached a historic milestone in solar energy use when solar energy production surpassed the supply of the national grid.
To encourage consumers to return to grid electricity and bolster activity in the industrial sector, Nepra has supported discounted tariffs for additional usage. The federal government welcomed the regulator’s decision that industries will have to pay Rs 22.98 per unit for consumption above their previous levels.
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The decision specifies that over the next three years, industrial and agricultural consumers will have to pay Rs 22.98 per unit for additional electricity consumption. After three years, the incremental package will automatically expire.
The package will apply to electricity distributed by the government and K-Electric’s industrial and agricultural consumers. Positive fuel adjustments will be applied to additional consumption, but quarterly adjustments, date adjustments, and negative adjustments will not be applicable. Duties and taxes will be determined based on the amount payable and there will be no impact on households or other sectors.
The Energy Division welcomed the decision and initiated procedures to issue the corresponding notification. According to the government, the industrial package will not affect domestic or commercial consumers.
Energy Minister Awais Leghari said the package would help boost industrial and agricultural activities in the country. He added that it would promote production and create additional employment opportunities.
Leghari said the three-year package would allow the industrial sector to plan more effectively for the future. New industries, including data centers and crypto mining operations, will also benefit from the initiative.
He noted that industry and agriculture constitute the backbone of the economy. The government has reduced the cost of additional electricity units for the industrial sector (previously Rs 34 per unit) and for the agricultural sector (previously Rs 38 per unit).
The minister explained that the tariff for additional units for agriculture has been reduced from Rs 38 to Rs 22.98 per unit, while the industrial tariff has been reduced from Rs 34 to Rs 22.98 per unit. This, he said, would reduce the average cost of electricity for consumers.
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He further stated that if an agricultural consumer used 100 units earlier, the cost of additional 100 units would now decrease by Rs 7 per unit on an average. For industries using 1,000 units, the average cost of additional 1,000 units would decrease by about Rs 5 per unit.
Leghari said prices for the industrial sector had already been reduced earlier and the latest cut would further support industrial growth. He added that the government was keeping its promises and expressed hope that the initiative would help improve the economy.
The industrial package will come into effect after the Power Division issues the official notification. The package specifically applies to consumption that exceeds last year’s usage.
