Agriculture highly subsidised sector

LAHORE - Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) spokesman on Friday claimed that agriculture is still highly subsidised sector while PEPCO is managing the corporatised entities (ex-WAPDA DISCO) through independent Board of Directors.
According to a press release he said that the tariff of all DISCO is being regulated and determined by NEPRA, an autonomous body to regulate the power sector.
The proposed increase is a minor effort to recover the legitimate cost of service to make the power sector financially viable. He further said that NEPRA is determining tariff based on the cost of distribution of respective DISCO.
It is imperative to note that agriculture consumers are enjoying various subsidies and paying bill significantly lower than the real cost of service. The power sector is nourishing agriculture sector through its highly subsidised tariff.
Evidently, the current tariff has taken care of agriculture consumer through inbuilt cross subsidies. Keeping in view the sensitivity of the sector, government is also providing various subsidies to agricultural consumers. The average cost of service is Rs 9.2 whereas the average tariff for agriculture consumer is just Rs 4.47.
This means that agriculture customers are paying substantially less than their cost of service, whereas as industrial and commercial customers paying significantly more, he claimed.