ISLAMABAD: The business community has voiced serious concerns over the abrupt withdrawal of a promised Rs7.41 per unit electricity relief and the prolonged outage of the 969-megawatt Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP), warning of accelerating de-industrialisation.

These grievances surfaced during a public hearing held by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), on the Central Power Purchasing Agency’s (CPPA) request for a Rs8.7bn refund — equal to 65 paise per unit — to consumers due to lower-than-expected fuel costs in June. Nepra members Amina Ahmed and Anwar Maqsood Khan presided over the session.

Several industrialists, referencing a recent meeting with Field Marshal Asim Munir, lamented that the prime minister’s announcement in March of Rs7.41 per unit tariff relief was not time-bound, yet its impact had dwindled. The actual reduction now stands at just Rs1.15 per unit in base tariff terms. As a result, applicable power rates have surged from around Rs30 per unit to Rs34-35 from July onwards.

Amir Shaikh, a Lahore-based businessman, said a promised Rs1.71 per unit reduction........

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