Business Recorder/13-04-2020

ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday made first formal contact with the managements of all power plants, particularly Independent Power Producers (IPPs) for a structured dialogue on possible options to reduce immediate liabilities amid constrained electricity demand. A senior government official told Dawn that a high-level inter-ministerial committee led by Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan would hold its first meeting on April 15 with the public sector generation companies formerly part of the Water and Power Development Authority and the government-run power plants set up more recently mostly in Punjab for their input and brainstorming. Formal letters have been issued for separate meetings on April 16 with IPPs set up under 1994 and 2002 Power Policies. Top officials of the Power Division had been in informal contact with the managements and sponsors of the IPPs following top-level consultations in the government for a constructive engagement on the pattern of amicable settlement with nine IPPs despite international arbitrations.