Lt-Gen Zafar Iqbal (retd) appointed SAPM on energy

Business Recorder reported that Lt Gen Muhammad Zafar Iqbal (Retd) has been made an energy adviser to the Prime Minister, holding Minister of State status, effective immediately. The appointment, recorded in notification No. 3882/APM/2026 dated October 13, 2026, leaves the Cabinet Division with any further action. The former head of the National Task Force on Energy now holds an advisory post within the Prime Minister's Office.

Under his leadership, the task force renegotiated agreements with independent power producers and government plants to bring down electricity costs. Its claimed gains include ending six IPP contracts, revising tariffs for thermal, bagasse and wind producers, and settling arbitration awards with 12 thermal IPPs, which returned over Rs30 billion in excess payments. The group estimates the revised deals could save Rs4,000 billion across the remaining project lives.

The task force also reset future late payment interest to KIBOR plus one percent and claims to have waived over Rs400 billion in interest. A Rs1.225 trillion financing scheme from commercial banks was arranged for power sector liabilities, and consumers of Discos and K-Electric will repay its cost through a Rs3.23 per kilowatt-hour surcharge over six years. According to sources, the group, now under the Prime Minister's Office, is also working on the gas sector's circular debt.