Privatisation has long been presented as the solution to Pakistan’s power sector crisis, but our reality shows how deeply resistant we remain to the very concept. We are a country that struggles to accept when a company earns profit through efficiency. The moment a private enterprise becomes financially successful, suspicion replaces appreciation, as if profitability itself were a betrayal of public service. This mindset has kept our power and gas sectors locked in mediocrity, feeding inefficiency rather than reform.

Despite years of reform talk, both the electricity and gas sectors remain firmly controlled by the government. Bureaucratic red tape dictates decisions more than market competition or consumer welfare. Even in the gas sector, when private players attempt to enter, state-run entities often block them by manipulating gas transportation tariffs or procedural hurdles. These actions discourage investment and ensure the old monopolies stay intact under the guise of “national interest.” In truth, this is an interest defined by control, not by consumer benefit.

The same problem exists in the power sector. No matter how much policymakers speak of competition and efficiency, the state remains unwilling to relinquish authority. Every effort to bring in private participation is bogged down by ministries, regulators, and committees that act as gatekeepers instead of facilitators. The end result is neither a public system that works nor a private system that is allowed to work, just a hybrid structure where inefficiency, losses, and political interference thrive side by side.

Another major structural flaw lies in how Pakistan regulates its energy system. Two separate regulators — NEPRA for electricity and OGRA for oil and gas — work under two Ministries, the Power Division and the Petroleum Division, each following its own policies and priorities. The Petroleum Division also oversees the gas sector, which further blurs responsibilities and coordination.

This divided framework often produces contradictory decisions. For........

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