Govt promises to pay dues by 28th

KARACHI- The four Independent Power Producers (IPPs), Nishat Chunian, Nishat Power, Liberty and Atlas Power, have withdrawn the notices of invoking sovereign guarantee after meeting with Minister Water and Power Naveed Qamar and Wapda officials. The IPPs have taken back the notices of sovereign guarantee as a goodwill gesture and in the larger national interest as the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) Limited paid Rs5 billion on Tuesday and the balance amount by June 28 in favour of the IPPs, said sources. The sources further said that for the time being, the government has done only a stop gap arrangement as further overdue receivable amount against power produced during this period will again escalate to the same level unless the long-term solution is provided by solving the circular debt issue. Therefore, they added, there is a continuous deficit between Wapda payments and invoices of the plants which is not going to narrow down unless the government finds a long-term solution and ensures the timely delivery of payments to the IPPs, otherwise, they warned, the IPPs will be in the same situation again soon. The sources commended the sustainability of the IPPs as despite invoking the sovereign guarantee; they never ceased producing electricity for the country to avoid a near shut down situation due to power shortage. Meanwhile, the energy sector risks another power crisis unless the government takes concrete measures for permanent solution of circular debt issue, sources feared. However, the sources added, the crisis is not over yet as these IPPs did not stop producing power even during the severe cash crunch and the amount billed during this period also runs into billions with each IPPs sending invoice of around Rs2.5 billion per month which has piled up also. The sources said that the representatives of the IPPs stressed on resolving circular debt issue and requested the Minister to devise a proper mechanism to ensure the payments are being made on due dates to avoid reoccurrence of such unfortunate events. The representatives of IPPs said that their mission is to take the country out of the energy crisis through continuous production of electricity by arranging fuel from their own resources and without being paid for a long time is a testimony to their devotion. Sources said that the IPPs even in dire shortage of fund continued their production during all this notice period. They emphasised that the process of paying off the IPPs must not be interrupted at any stage now or in future as well, in order to wipe out the energy crisis in the country once and for all. They expressed hope that this time, government will not make any delays in payment of the IPPs as it is not in the national interest to add to the energy crisis increasing miseries of common man and the industry as well.