The government is considering political risk guarantees from multilateral agencies and accelerating regulatory reforms to attract bidders for the privatization of power distribution companies (Discos), as prospective investors raise concerns about the reopening of contracts after privatization.
According to a Dawn report , the renegotiation of independent power producers’ (IPPs) contracts and recent legal developments involving K-Electric have increased risk perceptions among local and foreign investors conducting due diligence on the first batch of Discos.
Prospective bidders have called for binding legal guarantees, clearer allocation of financial risks and longer license terms than the existing 20-year period to protect their investments against future contractual disputes.
The concerns have put Prime Minister’s Adviser on Privatization Muhammad Ali under scrutiny from prospective investors. Ali was involved in renegotiating IPP contracts during the PTI and PML-N governments.
Against this backdrop, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a meeting of the Steering Committee on Power Sector Regulatory Regime and Reform Options on Wednesday to advance reforms aimed at improving regulatory predictability, efficiency, competition and private sector participation.
The committee discussed structural challenges facing the power sector, including legacy capacity obligations, changing electricity demand due to growing solarization, service quality and investment constraints. It also considered better-targeted subsidies and measures to improve the investment climate and financial sustainability.
The finance minister called for a market structure that provides clearer incentives for efficiency and service quality while allowing greater competition, private sector participation and investment.
The meeting came as the Sindh High Court suspended recent decisions by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and its appellate tribunal concerning K-Electric’s multi-year tariff. The decisions had effectively curtailed the federal government’s subsidy to K-Electric, estimated at around Rs. 200 billion. The court issued notices to respondents and scheduled the next hearing for October 15.
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