The government has decided to establish a mechanism for the privitisation of 3,600-megawatt liquefied natural gas (LNG) based power plants once they are completed.
This decision was taken keeping in mind the persistent inefficiency and higher line losses of existing state-owned electricity producers.
It was told to the cabinet on February 23 that the decision in this respect was taken in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy, held on February 12 and chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif him.
It was suggested during the meeting that the government should not set up any new generation company as it was beyond the capacity of the public sector to do business in an efficient manner.
The structure of proposed projects should be prepared in such a way that it allows either privatisation of the projects during their construction or it carries compulsory provisions for their sale after the start of commercial operations, said participants of the meeting.
The ministries of finance, planning and development, water and power and petroleum and natural resources were directed to frame a plan and set the procedure to be followed for their privatisation.
