Government paid Rs6.4 trillion in power capacity payments over five years, NA told

Profit by Pakistan Today reported that the federal government disbursed Rs6.406 trillion as capacity charges to electricity generators across a five-year span ending in FY25. The annual total began at Rs613.924 billion in FY2020-21 and reached Rs775.893bn a year later. Annual outlays climbed by almost 194 per cent over that period, according to a written reply tabled in the National Assembly.

Energy Minister Awais Ahmad Leghari supplied the data in answer to a query from Dr Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto, who had asked for yearly payments to independent power producers and savings from renegotiated deals. The series then rose to Rs1.307 trillion in FY2022-23, before hitting Rs1.902 trillion in FY2023-24. A slight dip followed, taking the figure to Rs1.807 trillion in FY2024-25, which was still close to three times the FY2020-21 level.

Leghari added that efforts by the government task force had ended six IPP contracts, while other agreements were revised to bring tariffs down. The government estimated that these steps would produce overall savings of Rs4.3 trillion across the remaining terms of the contracts. In a separate reply to Sher Afzal Marwat, the minister said power producers receive only the tariffs set by Nepra and amounts permitted under their agreements.