990401

KESC also to

withdraw petition

from Nepra

ASHRAF KHAN

KARACHI: The Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) has also decided, like Wapda, to withdraw its petition from Nepra, and offered a reduced tariff structure, it is learnt.

Following Wapda's withdrawal of its petition and coming up with a well worked out incentive-based electric tariff structure, KESC is also considering reduction in electricity tariff by 11 percent for the industries, 18 percent for agriculture, 8.7 percent for commercial and 3.4 percent for the domestic consumers, sources said.

KESC is likely to bring out the package on April, when its first hearing falls in Nepra, they said.

KESC usually follows the Wapda's yardstick in setting consumers tariff, they said. But it is more, prone to losing industrial consumers who are earnestly striving to set up their own captive power plants, due to ever increasing tariff. This is causing shrinking of KESC market, they said.

Hundreds of requests are pending with the ministry of petroleum and natural resources from the different industrial units located at Karachi which are waiting for gas supplies for their planned captive power projects.