Government initiates forensic audit of IPPs
Pakistan
Plant established under 1994 policy refused to negotiate with ministry to face audit
ISLAMABAD (Zeeshan Yousafzai) – The federal government decided to start a forensic audit of independent power producers (IPPs) that refuse to engage in negotiations.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Energy, Muhammad Ali, told the Senate Standing Committee that the government's task force is in talks with the IPPs.
However, a power plant established under the 1994 policy has refused to negotiate, prompting the government to proceed with a forensic audit. He added that NEPRA has already placed advertisements in international newspapers to hire an auditor for the process.
Ali further stated that any power plants unwilling to enter negotiations would also be subjected to a forensic audit, with the Ministry of Energy set to issue relevant directives.
Providing an update on financial recoveries, he revealed that Rs 35 billion were reclaimed from IPPs running on furnace oil and gas.
These funds were allegedly overpaid by previous governments under the pretext of fuel costs, operations, and maintenance expenses.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Energy, Awais Leghari, briefed the committee on load-shedding schedules, assuring that power outages would be minimized during Ramadan. He highlighted that uninterrupted electricity supply would be ensured nationwide during Sehri and Iftar. Efforts will also be made to provide power to high-loss feeders—those experiencing losses exceeding 80%—during these critical hours.
