KARACHI, Feb 25: Sindh government has approached the Centre, as well as Wapda and the KESC to get electricity tariff for the industries in Sindh reduced to the rates in the rest of the country.

This was revealed by the provincial Minister for Industries, Muhammad Adil Siddiqui, while speaking at the national workshop on Policy and Regulatory Environment for the MSMEs in Pakistan organized by Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) and International Labour Organization (ILO) here on Tuesday.

The minister pointed out that the industrial electricity tariff all over the country stood at Rs940 per kilowatt except for Karachi where Rs6,500 per kilowatt was being charged.

“We approached Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Federal Minister for Water and Power Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao several a times and they held out the assurance to remove this wide difference,” he said.

Mr Siddiqui pointed out that he had also held meetings with the Chairman of Wapda and Managing Director the KESC who would accordingly approach the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to sort out the matter.

“This is our pledge to the people of Sindh that we will take every step to get the power tariff reduced. We will ensure that a uniform rate of electricity would prevail all over the country,” he added.

Turning to the problem of water shortage in Karachi’s industrial estates, the minister said that the estimated demand of water was put at 22.5 million gallons a day, only four MGD short of adequate supply.

He said that he would talk to the managing director of the relevant authority on Tuesday (Feb 25) for an increased supply to the industries.

“We are seeking a raise of at least four per cent in the existing water supply for industries to begin with,” he said.

Mr Siddiqui pointed out that the government was also planning installation of a desalination plant which could lead to an increased water supply.

He further informed the audience that the government would be installing solid waste treatment plant and power generation plant having a capacity of five megawatts each in the city. Such a plant would cost $16 million and the funds would be provided by the United States, he added.

The minister emphasized the urgent need for the growth of small and medium enterprises to generate more employment opportunities and take poverty alleviation measures. The growth of SMEs, he stressed, was the only solution to stop job-seekers’ migration from one area to the other.

He held out the assurance that the government would solve the SMEs’ problems relating to credits, unnecessary regulations and other bottlenecks.

Earlier, Dr Gopal Joshi, the regional programme coordinator of ILO, underlined the need for the trimming of unnecessary regulations which, in his views, were hindering the SMEs’ growth in Pakistan.

Atif Saleem Malik, General Manager of Smeda presented a report, prepared jointly by his organization and the ILO, on micro, small and medium enterprises.

The ILO representative, Martin Clemmenson, lauded the efforts by Pakistan for the promotion of SMEs in the country.—APP