Import of Power Generation Machinery Witnessed a Surge of Some 35 Percent

Import of power generation machinery witnessed a surge of some 35 percent during the first quarter of fiscal year 2012-13 (FY13) over the same period of last fiscal year owing to power crisis in the country. Importers said that despite all efforts, the government and power generation companies seemed failed to resolve power crisis. Therefore, continuing power shortage forced the general public, industrialists and exporters to acquire their own power generation machinery. Presently, they said, industrialists are the major buyers of power generation machinery to produce their own electricity as the energy crisis is directly hurting the production and export of industries, resulting in huge losses and unemployment. Industrialists also want to free their industries of the ongoing energy crisis to avoid losses, they added. Importers said for last many years the government is claiming to end power crisis, however power shortage issue stays unresolved. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) the import of power generation machinery rose to $254 million in first quarter of FY13 compared to $189 million in the corresponding period of FY12, depicting an increase of 34.50 percent or $65 million in three months. Month on month basis, the import bill of power generation machinery for September 2012 rose by 33 percent to $80.37 million as compared to $60.52 million in the same period of last fiscal year. Importers said bulk of power generation machines is being imported from China followed by US, Japan, UK, however China is the largest supplier of power generation machinery and contributing over 70 percent share in Pakistan''s generator import. Chinese generators are available in all specifications and are cheaper than the US, Japan and UK brands, therefore general public prefers Chinese generators. "We are expecting that import of power generation machinery may witness some rise in coming months owing to persistent long power outages across the country," importers said. Although, the country is facing severer power crisis with hours'' long loadshedding, Punjab is the most affected province, where domestic and commercial consumers are worst hit. Usually, Punjab''s different cities especially Faisalabad is seen in the grip of power riots, they said. The situation in Karachi - the economic hub of the country - is slightly better than Punjab but not satisfactory as people and industry also suffering from loadshedding. Therefore, Punjab is the main market for power generation machinery as compared to Karachi, which generators'' sale is slow. Since 2004-05 the country has been witnessing a massive surge in the demand and import of power generation machinery. It has spent over one billion dollars on the import of power generation machinery during the last fiscal year (2011-12). Source: Business Recorder