Pakistan's Rs. 624 Billion Power Assets Remain Untagged as Privatization Concerns Grow

A parliamentary oversight body has raised serious concerns over the failure to identify and tag power distribution company assets worth an estimated Rs. 624 billion, warning that incomplete records could leave public property vulnerable to theft and complicate the planned privatization process. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) took up the matter during a recent meeting, according to local media reports.

Audit officials told the committee that DISCO assets must be properly identified and valued before any privatization proceeds, to ensure transparency and prevent the government from selling public assets below their true market worth. The Auditor General of Pakistan cautioned that moving ahead without certified valuations could result in the companies being sold using outdated figures from the previous financial year.

Power Division officials said roughly 40 percent of the asset valuation exercise had been completed, and that the distribution companies had engaged a private firm to carry out asset tagging. They also disclosed that the value of land owned by the DISCOs runs into trillions of rupees. Committee member Chaudhry Naseer questioned how these properties were being valued, while MNA Munaza Hassan called for postponing privatization until the actual worth of the assets is established. Senator Afnanullah clarified that DISCO-owned land would not be sold as part of the privatization process, but would instead be leased. Officials confirmed that Quetta Electric Supply Company and Tribal Electric Supply Company have been excluded from the privatization plan.

The committee directed the Power Division to submit certified valuations of DISCO assets within three months, along with a comprehensive plan addressing the future of the companies' employees. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry proposed seeking a briefing from the Adviser on Privatization and summoning DISCO chief executives if necessary.

Separately, the committee was briefed on plans to digitize the power sector and improve electricity recovery. Under the proposed system, connections belonging to defaulters would be disconnected at the transformer level rather than shutting down entire feeders, allowing authorities to target unpaid connections more precisely. Officials said APC meters would be installed on transformers to monitor consumption and identify defaulters; under a pilot project, 10 transformers in each DISCO will receive APC meters by December, with the broader rollout expected to be completed by June 2027.

The committee also examined problems affecting major hydropower infrastructure, including the closure of the Neelum-Jhelum project and reported damage to the tunnel at Tarbela-V. Senator Afnanullah questioned the planning and design of major projects and asked who would be held accountable if infrastructure suffered damage because of faulty designs.