By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: The provincial Punjab government announced a temporary subsidy of Rs14 per unit for electricity consumers using up to 500 units, seeking to provide some relief from high electricity bills during the peak summer months of August and September, at an estimated cost of Rs45 billion.
The decision was made public by Nawaz Sharif, president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
Sharif, speaking at a news conference alongside his daughter, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, said the decision was taken to provide relief to consumers struggling to pay high electricity bills.
“I am pained to see people struggling to pay exorbitant electricity bills,” the former three-time prime minister said. “The Punjab government will provide relief of Rs14 per unit in electricity bills up to 500 units for August and September.”
The relief plan will be funded by cutting expenditures from other government sectors, including development schemes. “The government has cut expenditure in various sectors, reduced development funds, and diverted the money for this relief program,” Sharif explained.
Some analysts see the subsidy as an attempt to shore up support for the ruling party in Punjab, a key political battleground where former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has a strong following, despite Khan’s incarceration for over a year on various charges.
Sharif’s provincial government has not specified which sectors will face budget cuts or which development projects will be reduced or eliminated to accommodate the estimated Rs45 billion subsidy.
The PML-N president also announced plans for a solar panel scheme aimed at further reducing electricity bills, estimated to cost Rs700 billion.
He urged other provinces to follow suit and provide relief to their citizens.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the move, calling it a “people-centric initiative” by his brother and niece.
“I commend Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz for her historic initiative, executed under the able leadership of our Quaid, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, to offer a 14-rupee electricity unit relief for consumers using up to 500 units!” PM Sharif posted on his X social media account. “The federal government has already given relief to consumers using up to 200 units for three months by allocating 50 billion rupees.”
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