Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, while addressing traders and industrialists in Karachi on Friday, announced immediate abolition of 17% sales tax on solar energy. Measures, including the delivery of the cheapest electricity to households, could save the weak economy from the huge 20 billion cost of oil and gas. Pakistan is the third most suitable country in the world for solar energy production where the sun shines an average of 315 days a year. In addition, three years ago, the efficiency of solar panels here was 16%, which has now increased to 26%. At present the total power generation capacity of the country is about 40,000 MW of which 46 are from oil and gas, 33 from water, 20 from coal, 7 from nuclear energy and only 1% from wind and solar. Under previous governments, when the power crisis was severe, reliance on the most expensive sources, such as oil and gas, should have been reduced to zero, and cheap technology should have been promoted. It is also being suggested that the government provide home-based solar systems in the form of medium or short-term loans.
The return of which can be arranged as an alternative to electricity bills. If this proposal is feasible, the development of this system could result in several gigawatts of the cheapest electricity and significantly reduce foreign debt. The country is rich in natural resources, which can be used to meet not only the present but also the challenges of the future.
