Day: October 18, 2025

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has announced a waiver of August electricity bills for consumers affected by recent floods across Pakistan, officials from the Power Division confirmed to Geo News on Friday. The relief measure, approved by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, applies to all categories of domestic consumers in flood-hit areas, offering much-needed respite to households struggling with losses caused by the devastating natural disaster. According to data from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), flash floods between June and October claimed at least 1,037 lives and left 1,067 people injured,…

ISLAMABAD: The National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (NEECA), an arm of the Power Division, has urged all District Development Authorities (DDAs) across the country to integrate the Energy Conservation Building Code 2023 (ECBC-2023) into their respective building by-laws to promote sustainable and energy-efficient construction practices. In a series of official letters, NEECA Managing Director Sardar Mohazzam has written to the heads of multiple development bodies, including the Galiyat, Mardan, Swat, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Lahore, Gwadar, Quetta, Gilgit-Baltistan, Skardu, Mirpur, and Muzaffarabad Development Authorities, as well as the Sindh…

ISLAMABAD: The Petroleum Division has asked the Power Division to present a firm plan for lifting Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) at a rate of Rs2,000 per MMBTU, as part of the government’s broader initiative to reduce mounting “take-or-pay” liabilities from LNG import contracts. The move aligns with Islamabad’s ongoing efforts to rationalize capacity payments to both Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and government-owned plants. Sources in the Petroleum Division told Business Recorder that concerns have intensified over the forced shutdown of domestic gas fields to accommodate surplus, high-cost RLNG, especially…

ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has revealed that Pakistan received merely $600 million in foreign aid following the devastating 2022 floods that inflicted over $30 billion in damages and losses across the country. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the minister said that apart from this limited assistance, all other international commitments came in the form of loans — most of them repurposed from previous arrangements. “This is an irony,” he remarked, recalling that the global community had pledged a $100 billion climate-finance fund but “did not provide even…