Persistent power disruptions hitting industrial productivity: KCCI

According to Business Recorder, Talat Mahmood, president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), has sharply criticised K-Electric over extended power cuts across the city. He argued that recurring outages are eroding industrial productivity, business activity and jobs, and the cuts now reach areas earlier spared from planned outages. He stressed that Karachi, the country's main commercial and industrial centre, cannot function on an unreliable supply.

The chamber cited media reports of up to 14 hours of daily load-shedding in some localities. Mahmood said the outages raise costs, interrupt production, damage sensitive machinery, delay deliveries and put export orders at risk, with small and medium enterprises the most exposed because they lack affordable backup power. Shops, markets and daily-wage earners are also affected, and K-Electric has tied its recent load curbs to RLNG supply shortfalls and international disruptions. Mahmood, however, argued that the burden cannot simply be passed on to consumers without clear explanations.

Mahmood urged K-Electric to review its load-management approach, make fuller use of available generation and coordinate with federal authorities, while calling on federal and provincial governments, the Ministry of Energy and regulators to step in. He said KCCI will keep raising the matter at every relevant forum to press for reliable and affordable power. The chamber wants a fair, open and time-limited framework for managing the shortfall.