• Move aims to manage renewable intermittency, reduce frequency fluctuations, minister says
• Clean energy share rises to 46pc, surpassing 2025 capacity target

ISLAMABAD: The government is wor­king on large, utility-scale Battery Ene­rgy Storage Systems (BESS) to ensure stability of the national grid, which is currently facing challenges such as frequency fluctuations caused by the induction of intermittent renewable energy sources faster than planned targets.

“The government … is pursuing the development of large-scale battery energy storage systems through private-sector investments to address the intermittency of variable renewable energy, optimise grid demand management, and enhance overall system stability,” Power Minister Sardar Awais Leghari told the National Assembly in a written statement on Friday.

In response to a series of questions from various MNAs, the minister also confir­med that the government was gradually moving away from Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as part of its policy to reduce reliance on imported fuels amid higher capacity contracts, increasing induction of indi­genous renewables, and stagnant demand.

Clean energy share

The minister said the clean energy share in the country had reached 46 per cent by September 2025 against the government’s 40pc capacity target for 2025.

He added that the government had set ambitious targets under its various power policies to increase the share of on-grid renewable energy capacity to 40pc by 2025 and 60pc by 2030.

Currently, 60 private-sector renewable energy projects with a cumulative capacity of 4,753MW are operational, including 680MW of solar, 1,937MW of run-of-river hydropower, 1,845MW of wind, and 291MW of bagasse cogeneration.

Alongside 9,619MW of public-sector hydropower and 100MW of solar in K-Electric’s system, renewables account for more than 37pc of the generation mix.

“Net-metering-based solar photovoltaic [PV] has further added 6,390MW as of September 2025, raising the clean energy share to approximately 46pc, thereby surpassing the government’s 40pc renewable energy capacity target for 2025,” the minister said.

In parallel, the minister said the government had finalised an initial quantum of 800MW for the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market framework to provide market access to renewable ene­rgy producers and enable large consumers to enter into direct supply contracts with producers of their choice, subject to a wheeling charge of about Rs13 per unit.

Mr Leghari emphasised that the availability of reliable, efficient, eco-friendly, and affordable electricity was crucial for sustainable economic growth. “There­fore, the government is prioritising the effective use of renewable and indigenous energy sources through its national policies aimed at diversifying the energy mix by promoting clean and renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydropower, and bagasse,” he added.

LNG reliance

Discussing LNG diversion, the minister reported that dependence on imported fuel plants had comparatively reduced in recent years, and priority was being given to the utilisation of local energy resources, including Thar coal, solar, wind, bagasse, and hydropower, to minimise reliance on imported fuels.

He conceded that dependence on imported LNG had comparatively dec­reased in recent years. “This policy shift is primarily aimed at promoting ind­igenous and renewable energy resources and ensuring least-cost dispatch in the overall generation mix,” he added.

He continued that the government was actively promoting the adoption of solar energy technology at the consumer level across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors.

He said the net-metering regulations provided a framework for integrating solar and wind generation systems of up to 1MW capacity, enabling consumers to offset their electricity consumption and contribute to the national grid. This included certification of service providers and installers of solar and wind systems to ensure safe, secure, and quality-assured deployment of products, installation, and maintenance.

To another question, the minister also testified to parliament that load management was being carried out across the distribution system on the basis of average technical and commercial (ATC) losses, and no loadshedding was carried out due to generation shortfall.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2025

Around a decade ago, Abdul Rehman Arain, a small farmer from Matiari, grew wheat for income generation in the Rabi season for the last time. Since then, he prefers mustard cultivation, an oilseed crop, on his seven acres of land, as he finds it easier to grow than wheat.

“Now I grow wheat only for the household’s flour requirements. Mustard is easy to handle and offers better returns than grain,” he shared. For him, mustard isn’t as high maintenance as wheat and “doesn’t require heavy inputs either”.

He felt that getting an adequate price for wheat has become increasingly difficult nowadays, whereas mustard, with lesser input costs, ensures either equal or impressive returns. He got a price of Rs7,000 per 40kg for mustard and had around 40–45 maunds per acre two years back. Only last year, he sold 40kg of mustard for Rs4,000–4,500 — a time when grain was sold for Rs2,200 per 40kg in the absence of support prices. This year, the government has announced a Rs3,500 support price for wheat.

The mustard crop is grown on a considerable scale in the lower Sindh region. Travelling from Hyderabad or Karachi towards upper Sindh, one can find large mustard fields with their bright golden flowers in full bloom, an eye-catching landscape indeed. It is among the principal sources of edible oil and a winter parallel crop to sunflowers for farmers.

Despite a lack of financial support, mustard has shown great potential for import substitution as an easier and cheaper-to-produce crop

Its cultivation costs around Rs20,000–25,000 per acre, including two urea bags along with seed, when compared with the Rs80,000 per acre or so expense of sowing wheat, according to Mr Arain. You could grow mustard even in October — much before the winter season actually begins — and harvest it in 60–90 days.

Punjab’s farmers also grow short-duration mustard on a large scale, alongside oilseed crops such as maize and canola. Whilst Mr Arain remained comfortable with mustard’s cultivation, Pakistan’s reliance on edible oil imports remains endless. Pakistan spends considerable foreign exchange on edible oil imports, as the potential of oilseed crops seems not to have been fully tapped.

The Economic Survey of Pakistan (ESP) FY25 projected total edible oil availability at 3.07 million tonnes — with the actual figure likely much higher — ensuring a stable supply for domestic consumption.

This included 2.58m tonnes of imports valued at Rs764.9 billion ($2.75bn), of which 148,000 tonnes were extracted from imported oilseeds (at the cost of precious foreign exchange spending). Encouragingly, it said, local edible oil production was estimated to reach 486,000 tonnes, showing modest growth driven by an expansion in oilseed cultivation and yield improvements in certain oilseed crops.

ESP figures indicated a Pakistan-wide total of 7.01m acres under oilseed crops in FY24, with a production of 466,000 tonnes. In FY25, oilseed crop acreage was 6.33m, with production of 486,000 tonnes.

A review of FY23 and FY24 statistics showed variation, with total acreage for all oilseed crops at 7.04m acres and 504,000 tonnes of production in FY23, compared with 6.96m acres and 471,000 tonnes of production in FY24.

Data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, according to a national food security ministry official, highlights Pakistan’s unending reliance on imports, with almost 90 per cent of oil demand met by foreign sources. PBS figures indicated that during FY25, the national edible oil requirement stood at 4.64m tonnes, with 4.17m tonnes (90pc) being met from imports and only a paltry 0.47m tonnes through local production.

Of imported oil, 3.2m tonnes came from palm oil, 320,000 tonnes from soybean and 80,000 tonnes of other oils in addition to oil extraction from imported oilseeds of soybean (1.52m tonnes), canola/rapeseed (610,000 tonnes) and sunflower seed (29,000 tonnes). Their respective oil production stood at 274,000 tonnes, 256,000 tonnes, and 12,000 tonnes to make a total availability of edible oils from imported sources of 4.17m tonnes.

Experts like Iqrar A Khan, former vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, believed that the mustard crop’s potential was not being realised. Mustard competes with wheat — a protected crop, he explained. “Mustard doesn’t enjoy this privilege and faces an inherent disadvantage. Still, it has got potential for import substitution for edible oil.”

Mr Khan said mustard fared better last year after the government’s abrupt deregulation of the wheat crop. Similarly, he said, soybeans, as an oilseed crop, were being imported, probably as affordable, high-quality poultry feed. But it could be grown here in Kharif to compete with the water-guzzling paddy crop, thereby saving precious water resources.

An official of the Ministry of National Food Security & Research believed, according to PBS figures, that 3.63m tonnes of edible oil worth $3.85bn were imported to meet domestic needs. “India is achieving 13m tonnes of rapeseed/mustard crop locally, while we are getting a negligible quantum of it, although mustard cultivation can easily be increased up to 1–1.5m tonnes,” he said.

He disclosed that India produces 43pc of its total edible oil requirement domestically, against Pakistan’s 10pc local production of total needs.

To boost Pakistan’s oilseed sector, the Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB) was established in 1994. PODB performed satisfactorily to some extent. Sunflower’s growth in Sindh under its umbrella over a decade ago was attributed to it. After a constitutional amendment, PODB was wound up as agriculture was devolved to provinces.

Former PODB managing director Ghulam Idris Khan has mentioned a considerable decline, in his recent writing, in local edible oil production — from 30pc to 10pc of total national consumption. According to him, despite directives from the prime minister’s office for a strategic development plan on edible oil production, the ministry struggled to take any coherent action. He calls for reviving this key sector of the national economy to secure food security.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 8th, 2025

The national debate on diverse approaches or strategies to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth has intensified with greater clarity on how long-term stability is linked to improving productivity and competitiveness across all sectors of the economy.

Similarly, all stakeholders need to be taken on board and actively help evolve a common minimum programme and action plan for the correction course.

On a positive note, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Nov 30 that the government was making a decisive shift towards an inclusive, private-sector-driven and export-led growth model. Earlier, he told a Pakistan Business Council (PBC) event that the policy focus was shifting towards steady, sustainable growth that could break recurring boom-and-bust cycles.

Expecting a “good” National Finance Commission output, he said both the federation and the provinces would have to contribute to enhance revenue mobilisation to run the country sustainably. “You cannot run the country on an eight to 10 per cent tax-to-GDP ratio.”

In another PBC session, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan said exports must grow faster than imports to ease pressure on the economy and secure long-term stability. As for now, the trade deficit has further widened by 37pc to $15.5 billion in 5MFY26.

International collaboration aside, Pakistan must create an ecosystem where experimentation is rewarded, and ideas can move freely between universities, firms, and the market

A stronger export performance requires support for manufacturing and local production, adding that producing key inputs such as steel domestically is necessary to expand export capacity. Pakistan should strengthen domestic investment before relying on foreign investors. Faster economic progress, he said, is needed to create employment.

According to the Labour Force Survey 2024-25, the number of unemployed individuals surged from 4.5 million in FY21 to 5.9m in FY25.

A crucial lesson learnt was that foreign direct investment will only follow once local investors are engaged, acknowledged the National Coordinator of the Special Investment Facilitation Council, Lt Gen Sarfraz Ahmed, in a meeting with the PBC held later on Nov 2.

On Dec 3, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif reportedly issued instructions to take up a tax relief proposal for the corporates and salaried class with the International Monetary Fund; the proposal suggests a Rs975bn income-tax relief package.

‘The private sector should also pursue partnerships and joint ventures abroad, technology transfer, and knowledge exchange to improve productivity and competitiveness at home’

Furthermore, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) and the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation have signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of competitive policy. According to a CCP statement, “It was a significant step toward deepening institutional coordination, promoting fair market practices, and strengthening economic ties between the two countries.”

In a related development, China promises to extend a helping hand more comprehensively. “We will promote the inclusion of more Pakistani agricultural products under contract farming cooperation and facilitate the export of more high-quality agricultural products to China. Furthermore, we will continue to support industrial park cooperation, making new and greater contributions to Pakistan’s export expansion and foreign exchange earnings,” says Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong.

But, international collaboration aside, Waqar Wadho, Associate Professor of Economics at the Lahore School of Economics, urges, “When ideas stop, economies stall. For Pakistan, the task is not merely to import technologies or replicate policies. It is to create an ecosystem where experimentation is rewarded, where failure is tolerated, and where ideas can move freely between universities, firms, and markets.”

With inputs from technocrats, a democratic political approach is required to resolve structural reforms.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmed says only by moving together — the government, SBP and the private sector — can we ensure sustainable and inclusive growth. “Our firms must align their workforce development with changing market needs. The private sector should also pursue partnerships and joint ventures abroad, technology transfer, and knowledge exchange to improve productivity and competitiveness at home,” he said.

A recent Dawn editorial noted that unless the government reforms the investment regime to guarantee every investor — local or foreign, small or large — an equal opportunity to succeed based on their market performance, the current trends will persist. What the economy needs at the moment is productivity, governance and business reforms to find a way out of its current troubles through exports.

Speaking at a PBC meeting, PBC Chairperson Dr Zeelaf Munir highlighted the role of productive businesses in national progress, adding that growth requires predictability, fairness, and confidence for businesses, and that sustainable progress requires partnership between government, business, academia, and civil society.

The Population Council’s District Vulnerability Index for Pakistan (DVIP) offers a data-driven picture of vulnerabilities both at the provincial and district levels and focuses on the outcome of underlying structural and systemic factors.

In short, analysts at Dawn say that the DVIP report underpins two key points about our development landscape. First, the country’s challenges stem not only from limited resources but, more critically, from deep inequalities in how those resources and essential services are distributed across regions and communities.

Second, these entrenched vulnerabilities mean that those already left behind are both more exposed to disasters and far less likely to catch up with the better-developed areas.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 8th, 2025