ISLAMABAD: Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tareen on Tuesday announced that the circular debt of power companies would be cleared by the end of this month. Speaking for the first time in the National Assembly, Tareen said the distribution companies (DISCOS) which will have to be ultimately privatised, will then be given specific targets to produce power. He, however, said the government would not repeat the mistake of KESC and DISCOS will be given to such companies which can enhance their efficiency. He said the present power crisis is the result of bad planning as there was surplus electricity in 1999 to 2000 but then suddenly there was a huge gap between demand and supply. Tareen said the economic growth in the past was projected at six to seven percent and for that two percent more power was needed which was not there. He said under the present circumstances, only rental power plants were the best option to solve the electricity shortage as they can be installed within three to six months and will act as bridge till the completion of long term hydel projects. He said over the last two to three decades, alternate sources of energy like wind, solar power and coal were ignored. He said the government has already resolved the management issues of Thar Coal and a company with funding from World Bank will soon start working on a 1000 megawatt project. Similarly, he added, concessions on wind power projects will be fully implemented. The advisor also stressed the need for reducing line losses which are about 20 to 30 percent of the total electricity production. He said people should get electricity at 10 to 15 percent less rate for which the government was taking measures. LINK