ISLAMABAD: The government disclosed in the Supreme Court on Thursday that about Rs2 billion was being spent daily (Rs749bn a year) on purchase of furnace oil for thermal power generation.

“This Rs749bn is in addition to Rs250bn which the government has to incur in terms of subsidised electricity provided to certain consumers,” Managing Director of the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) Zarghoon Ishaq Khan informed a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry which had taken notice of the rising electricity loadshedding.

The court regretted that despite spending a huge amount on thermal power generation people continued to endure huge power cuts.

The total electricity shortfall currently stands at about 4,000MW against a demand of 13,800MW. The generating units at present are collectively producing about 9,200MW.

The court directed Pepco, National Transmission and Dispatch Company, generation companies, Indus River System Authority and Alternative Energy Development Board to come up with actual reasons for loadshedding, bottlenecks and difficulties in providing the required electricity to consumers.