PESHAWAR(National Times)- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Tuesday said that his province supplied 70 per cent of the country’s total hydropower to the national grid but its residents continued to be denied their rightful share in their own resources and due benefit from them, a situation that was no longer acceptable.
“Our [province’s] hydropower, oil, gas and LPG resources are significantly helping meet Pakistan’s overall energy requirements,” the chief minister told a meeting of the energy and power department here.
The meeting was briefed on the ongoing development projects of the energy and power department, energy generation, the provincial transmission and grid system, natural resources, outstanding federal dues and other key matters related to the province’s energy sector, according to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat.
Officials said that KP contributed more than 70 per cent of the country’s total hydropower generation to the national grid.
Afridi warns his govt will move court to secure province’s rights
They, however, insisted that in the absence of a provincial transmission line following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the province was compelled to sell the electricity it generated to the federal government.
The chief minister said that while KP was making such a substantial contribution to the country’s energy requirements, outstanding net hydel profit dues payable by the federal government under the AGN Kazi formula had exceeded Rs2,300 billion.
Officials told the meeting that under the earlier interim arrangement, more than Rs78 billion in regular NHP payments also remained outstanding against the federal government.
They said that despite producing more than 70 per cent of the country’s hydropower, KP had received less in NHP payments compared to Punjab.
The officials said during the last three years, KP received Rs87.7 billion in NHP payments against Punjab’s Rs160.8 billion receipts.
The chief minister said delays in NHP payments and disproportionate disbursements were adversely affecting the province’s fiscal position.
Officials said that KP had approached the Council of Common Interests (CCI) on the matters of five per cent annual indexation of NHP, outstanding arrears, late payment surcharge, and the mechanism for direct payments.
They said that KP was establishing its own provincial transmission and grid system to ensure reliable electricity transmission and meet the requirements of the industrial sector.
The officials said the province was also strengthening its transmission, regulatory and distribution systems at the provincial level.
The chief minister said that the provincial transmission line project should be presented at an investors’ conference and that the project was highly profitable and that a number of countries were interested in investing in it.
The officials said that the overall portfolio of energy projects being developed by the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (Pedo) stood at around 7,890MW.
They said Pedo’s 224MW operational projects generated Rs8.829 billion in revenue during the fiscal year 2025-26.
CM Afridi said that despite the province’s natural resources and energy production, failure to ensure that the people of KP received their due benefit from these resources constituted a violation of their constitutional rights.
The officials said that under Article 158 of the Constitution, KP had priority in the use of natural gas produced within the province. KP accounts for 48 per cent of the country’s total crude oil production. They recommended that the federal excise duty levied at the wellhead in KP be paid to the province in accordance with Article 161 of the Constitution.
The officials said that KP currently produced 850 tonnes of LPG per day against a provincial daily consumption of 600 tonnes. The province accounts for 38 per cent of Pakistan’s total LPG production.
They recommended that 10 per cent of LPG production be allocated to KP under the LPG Policy, 2016.
The officials noted that the allocation of 75 tonnes of LPG per day, representing the 10 per cent share, could meet the annual requirements of around 245,000 households.
They said that allocating 10 per cent of LPG production to the province could save around 2,440 hectares of forest annually.
The chief minister said that all matters concerning the province’s constitutional and financial rights should be taken up with the federal government through a strong and formal institutional process and that every available constitutional and legal avenue should be pursued for their resolution.
He warned that if the required relief was not provided by the federal government, the matters would be taken before the courts to secure the rights of the province.
