ISLAMABAD - The government is considering ban on import and manufacturing of incandescent bulbs and promoting energy efficiency in lighting sector aimed at saving electricity.
In a written reply by Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Muhammad Asif told the National Assembly on Wednesday that the government in collaboration with donor agencies including Japan International Cooperative Agency (JICA) and others for launching the National Level Energy Efficiency Project.
He said that the National Energy Conservation Center (ENERCON) was developing manuals and setting up certification mechanism for manufactures in order to do away with bulbs candent bulbs.
The minister informed that the Pakistan Energy Efficiency & Conservation Bill 2014 under promulgation was being moved for approval of Council of Common Interest (CCI) while its approval by National Assembly will give a legal cover to start up mandatory Energy Standards and Labelling (ES&L) regime for appliances.
Currently no law exists to ensure energy efficient electric appliances in the country to what the minister said would be introduced soon after the approval of CCI adding a standard would be fixed for home appliances including refrigerators, air conditioners and other household appliances according to international standards.
To another question, the minister said tariff of electricity in Pakistan was relatively higher than that of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh arguing that in Pakistan the tariff charged to consumers was based on generation mix, cost structure, and T and D losses of each utility company.
He said that the cheapest source of power generation was hydel that was not sufficient to meet the growing demand as a result thermal generation was being utilized that was costly.