Day: November 7, 2025

PMO Directs Power Division, AGP to Protect Pakistan’s Interests in Halmore Arbitration Case

Admin
Halmore-Power

ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has instructed the Power Division and the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) to take urgent and proactive measures to safeguard the government’s interests in the international arbitration initiated by M/s Halmore Power Company, sources told Business Recorder. According to officials, the directives were issued through a formal communication by Syed Hamid Ali, Additional Secretary-II (O/B) at the PMO, following a Notice of Arbitration filed by Mian Karim-ud-Din, owner of the 225MW Halmore Power Company, before the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). The case…

Read More

OGRA Conducts Public Hearing to Review and Revise RLNG Prices After Court Order

Admin
OGRA

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Thursday held a public hearing to review and revise Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) prices set over the past decade, following litigation and widespread protests from industrial and CNG consumers over retrospective billing amounting to nearly Rs150 billion. The hearing, held at the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) head office, was conducted in compliance with directions from the Lahore High Court, Multan Bench, issued in a writ petition dated October 11, 2025. The court had instructed OGRA to provide all…

Read More

Industry Dismisses Government’s Claims of Circular Debt Reduction as New Tariff Hike Looms

Admin
IPPs

ISLAMABAD: Industrial stakeholders have strongly refuted the government’s assertions of curbing circular debt and achieving tariff relief through revised agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) and the incremental consumption package. They stressed that the high cost of electricity continues to cripple industrial competitiveness and demanded further tariff reductions to revive production and exports. After witnessing a temporary decline in the latter half of the previous fiscal year, capacity charges have once again surged. Power distribution companies (DISCOs) have sought the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s (Nepra) approval to recover Rs21.7…

Read More

Nepra Warns Circular Debt Will Persist Without Major ReformsPower tariffs to rise by Rs2.30 per unit; govt proposes Rs11 per unit cut for industrial, agricultural users on incremental consumption

Admin

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has warned that Pakistan’s chronic circular debt crisis will continue to worsen unless systemic inefficiencies are reduced and recoveries significantly improve. The warning came on Thursday during a public hearing where the regulator reviewed the government’s request to recover an additional Rs8.4 billion from consumers over the next three months — December to February 2026 — through a Quarterly Tariff Adjustment (QTA) for the first quarter of the current fiscal year (July–September). The adjustment would add about 50 paisa per unit to…

Read More

Digital Finance to Accelerate Green Transition

Admin
Asian-bank

Highlighting new initiatives, Mr Aurangzeb announced the establishment of the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) through an ordinance to oversee crypto and digital assets, alongside the creation of the Pakistan Crypto Council to guide responsible ecosystem development. Formal legislation would follow soon, he said, viewing digital finance as a key catalyst for climate-linked investment. He cited several major financing commitments, including a $1.3 billion climate financing arrangement with the IMF, a $500 million pledge from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank’s 10-year Country Partnership Framework, expected to…

Read More