By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The government invited expressions of interest from local and international investors on Tuesday for stakes of as much as 100% in three of the country’s largest state-owned electricity distribution companies, the latest effort to overhaul a loss-plagued power sector and ease pressure on public finances.
The Privatization Commission is seeking buyers for 51% to 100% of Islamabad Electric Supply Company, Gujranwala Electric Power Company and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company, along with full management control in each. The three distributors, collectively known as DISCOs, serve more than 14 million consumers across major industrial, commercial and urban centers in Punjab province and the Islamabad region.
The move follows the government’s approval last week to privatize the companies and comes as Islamabad presses ahead with structural reforms under an International Monetary Fund-backed program aimed at cutting transmission losses, boosting bill recoveries and resolving the circular debt that has long weighed on the budget. “The Government of Pakistan, through the Privatization Commission, has formally invited Expressions of Interest from local and international investors for the privatization of three major electricity distribution companies,” the ministry said in a statement. Investors can bid individually or as part of a consortium, subject to qualification criteria laid out in the request-for-statement-of-qualification documents. Separate bids are required for each company.
Deadlines are July 7 for Faisalabad Electric, Aug. 6 for Gujranwala Electric and Sept. 7 for Islamabad Electric. The sales are designed to introduce a performance-based return regime while letting private operators tap the distributors’ infrastructure and customer base for new revenue streams, the ministry said. Officials see the transactions as key to fiscal sustainability, broader energy-sector reforms and long-term economic stability.
Pakistan’s distribution companies have for years been dogged by high technical and commercial losses, poor collection rates and operational inefficiencies — problems that have helped swell the circular debt and forced repeated taxpayer bailouts. The government has pledged under the IMF program to privatize additional loss-making state enterprises as part of wider efforts to improve efficiency and attract private capital.
The power-sector push follows the landmark privatization of Pakistan International Airlines late last year, which officials hailed as a breakthrough in a privatization drive that had stalled for years.
Shipping-Line Overhaul
In a parallel decision on Tuesday, the Economic Coordination Committee approved the sale of a 30% stake in the state-run Pakistan National Shipping Corporation and the transfer of management control to the National Logistics Corporation. The ECC, chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, granted in-principle approval for the restructuring after a proposal from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs. The committee directed authorities to expedite the process to capitalize on emerging maritime and transshipment opportunities.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had earlier this year approved the military-backed NLC’s planned acquisition of the 30% stake and management control. PNSC, Pakistan’s national shipping carrier, operates a fleet that transports dry bulk and liquid cargo worldwide and has expanded into logistics and real estate.
The transaction fits into Islamabad’s broader privatization and restructuring of loss-making public enterprises under the IMF program. Officials are also seeking to position Pakistan as a regional trade and logistics hub linking South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East, with particular emphasis on maritime routes tied to the ports of Gwadar and Karachi.
Additional ECC ApprovalsThe committee also signed off on several technical supplementary grants and policy measures. It allocated nearly Rs3.9 billion for the Prime Minister’s Youth Skill Development Programme and for establishing Danish-model schools in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan. An additional Rs1.5 billion was approved for the Prime Minister National Health Programme. The ECC endorsed a national gemstone policy aimed at increasing exports, formalizing the industry and introducing modern mining practices in Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu & Kashmir.
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