Pakistan Owes $12 Million in Outstanding Electricity Payments to Iran, Reveals Energy Minister Awais Leghari in Written National Assembly Reply; Discloses IPP Capacity Payments Reached Rs 1.71 Trillion in FY 2025-26
ISLAMABAD: There is a comprehensive written reply by Federal Minister for Energy Awais Leghari to the National Assembly in reference to the electricity importation from Iran, in which he has informed that Pakistan presently has $12 million of electricity supply outstanding with Iran for the supplies to Makran region.
The Energy Minister revealed that Pakistan is importing up to 204 MW of electricity from Iran through four additional cross border transmission lines to supply power to Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur, Tump, Jiwani, Pasni and the entire Makran division.
The following are the main points of Minister of Energy, Mr Awais Leghari’s written statement before the Parliament:
Iran Power Supply and Billing: Minister Leghari announced that as per the official policy of NEPRA, the rate of electricity imported from Iran is officially sanctioned. In Balochistan, the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) is responsible for settling debts in the areas supplied by the company while the consumers are required to settle their bills collected by the Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) in the areas it supplies. Work for connection Makran region to Makran national grid is successfully completed and load-shedding is managed in these areas according to line losses.
In response to the queries on Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and circular debt, Minister said that the total amount of capacity payment to IPPs in 2024-25 was Rs 1,669 billion, while in 2025-26 the amount was Rs 1,711 billion. The total power generation in the country increased from 127,046 gigawatt-hours in 2024-25 to 128,540 gigawatt-hours in 2025-26. Capacity payments are to incentivize power plants to stay on standby and available to generate electricity when needed.
Circular Debt and CPEC Obligations: Total Circular Debt in the power sector as of 30th June 2026 stood at Rs 1,675 billion, due to high transmission losses, low recovery rates and financial costs, Leghari said. Further, Rs 400 billion was the amount of the outstanding dues due to the CPEC power projects as of 30th June 2026. He said the continuous depreciation of the currency increases the debt burden and profit rates for people who had taken loans in dollars, and consequently puts upward pressure on electricity tariffs, but the government had cancelled the high cost IPP contracts and adopted the hybrid take and pay contract to ease consumer burden.