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Pakistan’s largest independent power producer expands into lithium mining, battery manufacturing

Pakistan’s largest independent power producer expands into lithium mining, battery manufacturing
People commute on a road in Islamabad on July 11, 2023. (AFP/File)
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Updated 02 November 2024
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Pakistan’s largest independent power producer expands into lithium mining, battery manufacturing

Pakistan’s largest independent power producer expands into lithium mining, battery manufacturing
  • Hub Power Company’s subsidiary signed a collaboration agreement with Chinese EV giant BYD this year
  • Its lithium exploration is expected to further boost the manufacturing potential of Pakistan’s auto industry
Updated 02 November 2024
Arab News Pakistan
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s largest independent power producer is set to enter lithium mining, battery manufacturing and electric vehicle (EV) production under Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), according to state media on Saturday.
Established in 1991, Hub Power Company (Hubco) has an installed generation capacity exceeding 3,500 megawatts and plans to diversify in other areas.
The planned initiatives, facilitated by the SIFC, a hybrid civil-military body established last year to assist foreign investors, aim to meet the country’s growing demand for batteries and electric vehicles.
A lithium exploration and battery production project is expected to reach completion in 12 to 18 months, meeting the rising demand for rechargeable batteries used in mobile phones, laptops and automobiles.
“Hub Power Company Limited’s exploration of lithium in Pakistan will further increase the manufacturing potential in the country’s auto industry,” Radio Pakistan reported.
“Work on establishing a manufacturing plant to produce electric vehicles in Pakistan is already underway, which will manufacture fifty thousand electric vehicles annually,” it added.
Earlier this year in June, Hubco’s subsidiary Mega Motor Company signed a collaboration agreement with Chinese EV giant BYD Auto Industry to assemble EVs in Pakistan.
Plans for the EV plant, with a projected annual production of 50,000 vehicles, include 30 to 40 percent allocated for export to markets in Australia and Africa.
HUBCO operates a diverse portfolio of power plants, including oil-fired, coal-based and hydropower facilities, and is also involved in coal mining.
Its new initiatives are expected to strengthen its market position, create employment opportunities and boost domestic capacity for battery production for electronic devices.

Pakistan cricket team arrive in South Africa to play all-format series starting on Dec. 10

Pakistan cricket team arrive in South Africa to play all-format series starting on Dec. 10
Updated 07 December 2024
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Pakistan cricket team arrive in South Africa to play all-format series starting on Dec. 10

Pakistan cricket team arrive in South Africa to play all-format series starting on Dec. 10
  • Pakistan to play two Tests, three ODIs and three T20I matches in South Africa
  • Rizwan’s team heads to South Africa after beating Zimbabwe in white-ball series
Updated 07 December 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan

KARACHI: The Pakistan cricket team have arrived in South Africa to play an eight-match all-format series beginning from Dec. 10 till January 2025, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Saturday.

The national squad arrived in Durban after defeating Zimbabwe in the ODI and T20 series earlier this month. Pakistan will play two Tests and three One Day Internationals and three Twenty20 matches against the host country. 

The first match of the series, a T20I contest, will take place on Dec. 10.

“National T20 squad arrived in Durban from Zimbabwe,” the PCB said in a post on social media site X. “Captain Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah also arrived in Durban.”

The statement said the Pakistan cricket team will rest on Sunday before beginning their first practice session the same day at the Kingsmead Cricket Stadium in Durban.

The South Africa series will see the return of cricket stars Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who were both rested for the Zimbabwe T20I and ODI series. 

Pakistan squads for South Africa tour:

Tests: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha

ODIs: Mohammad Rizwan (captain & wk), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wk)

T20Is: Mohammad Rizwan (captain & wk), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wk)

Topics: Pakistan cricket team Pakistan South Africa Pakistan v South Africa Cricket

Pakistan’s finmin says efficient management of state resources key to improving fiscal position

Pakistan’s finmin says efficient management of state resources key to improving fiscal position
Updated 55 min 38 sec ago
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Pakistan’s finmin says efficient management of state resources key to improving fiscal position

Pakistan’s finmin says efficient management of state resources key to improving fiscal position
  • Pakistan is actively trying to sell its stakes in state-owned assets to private investors
  • Muhammad Aurangzeb urges private companies to focus on export-oriented growth 
Updated 55 min 38 sec ago
Fatimah Amjad

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Saturday stressed the importance of efficient management of state assets by private investors in improving the country’s fiscal position, calling on the private sector to focus on increasing the country’s exports. 

Islamabad has sought to privatize loss-making state enterprises which have accumulated losses in the billions over decades, by handing over their management to private companies to create fiscal space. 

Pakistan has identified 25 public sector enterprises for privatization, including the flagship carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), banks, hotels and power generation and distribution companies. Islamabad’s move to privatize the PIA and other state-owned enterprises is part of a deal with the IMF for financial bailout programs. 

“This is very important and I keep saying this repeatedly that the private sector has to lead this country,” Aurangzeb said during an event in Karachi. 

He added that SOEs were inflicting losses worth Rs2.2 billion [$7.9 million] per day to Pakistan, adding this amounts to Rs6 trillion [$21.5 billion] yearly. 

“Think about this, this year we have to collect taxes worth Rs12.9 trillion [$46.3 million], so approximately 50 percent of this, if there is no [financial] drag of the SOEs, if all of them are being run by the private sector, if this drag is not there then you can imagine our fiscal balance or imbalance it will become so much better,” he said. 

The Pakistani minister urged private companies to focus on exports, adding that while the country had achieved economic stability, it needed to achieve growth as well. 

“If we have to end this boom-bust cycle and if we have to take this economy toward to a 5, 6 and 7 percent growth, it has to be an export-led growth,” Aurangzeb said. 

Pakistan has made some economic gains in recent months, with the stock market performing impressively and breaching over 109,000 points at close of trade on Friday. 

Inflation in the country, which reached a record high of 38 percent in May 2023, slowed to 4.9 percent in November, lower than the government’s forecast. 

Topics: Pakistan FINANCE MINISTRY

Pakistan’s PIA to resume flights to Europe from Jan. 10 after four-year ban 

Pakistan’s PIA to resume flights to Europe from Jan. 10 after four-year ban 
Updated 07 December 2024
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Pakistan’s PIA to resume flights to Europe from Jan. 10 after four-year ban 

Pakistan’s PIA to resume flights to Europe from Jan. 10 after four-year ban 
  • PIA’s authorization was suspended in June 2020 over concerns of not complying with international aviation standards
  • Pakistan’s national flag carrier to resume Europe operations with Islamabad-Paris flight, will operate two flights per week
Updated 07 December 2024
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: The state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will resume its flights to Europe for the first time in four-and-a-half years on Jan. 10, 2025, an airline spokesperson confirmed on Saturday, after the EU aviation regulator lifted a ban on the national flag carrier. 

PIA’s authorization to operate in the EU was suspended in June 2020 over concerns about the ability of Pakistani authorities and its Civil Aviation Authority to ensure compliance with international aviation standards.

The suspension came days after Pakistan launched an investigation into the validity of pilots’ licenses issued in the country following a PIA plane crash that killed 97 people.

“On Jan. 10, 2025, PIA’s flight will depart from Islamabad for Paris,” the airline’s spokesperson said in a statement. “In the initial phase, two flights will be operated per week, which will be gradually increased.”

It said the flights will be operated on Fridays and Sundays, adding that the Jan. 10 flight will depart Islamabad at 11:30 am and arrive in Paris at 4:00 pm. 

The flight from Paris, meanwhile, will depart at 6:00 p.m. and arrive in Islamabad at 5:00 am. 

“The schedule is such that passengers will have breakfast in Pakistan and lunch in Paris,” the spokesperson said. 

Last Friday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the lifting of the ban would strengthen the national flag carrier’s reputation and bring financial benefits to the airline.

The ban was costing PIA nearly 40 billion Pakistani rupees ($144 million) in revenue annually, according to government records presented in parliament.

PIA and the government had been pressing the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to lift the ban even provisionally. The government’s attempt to privatize the airline fell flat when it received only a single offer this year, that too well below its asking price.

In a statement, the PIA also vowed to abide by the EASA regulations as it welcomed the lifting of the ban.
 

Topics: PIA Europe PIA ban Pakistan Arab News Pakistan

Baloch separatists becoming as big a national security threat as Pakistani Taliban – think tank

Baloch separatists becoming as big a national security threat as Pakistani Taliban – think tank
Updated 07 December 2024
AP
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Baloch separatists becoming as big a national security threat as Pakistani Taliban – think tank

Baloch separatists becoming as big a national security threat as Pakistani Taliban – think tank
  • Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies says surge in frequency of attacks by separatists shows evolution in their strategy 
  • Balochistan Liberation Army, Pakistan’s most prominent separatist group, carried out 12 attacks last month, killing 45 
Updated 07 December 2024
AP

ISLAMABAD: A Baloch separatist group is becoming as big a threat to Pakistan’s national security as the Pakistani Taliban, according to a think tank.

Last month, the Baloch Liberation Army killed dozens of people in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan. The deadliest assault was a suicide bombing at a train station in Quetta.

The BLA wants independence from the federal government, which last month launched an operation against armed groups operating in the province.

A report published Thursday by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies said the surge in frequency and intensity of BLA attacks reflected a “significant evolution” in the group’s operational strategy and capabilities that required the government to update its approach.

The country experienced 61 terrorist attacks in November, a 27 percent increase from the previous month, said the report. The number of fatalities increased from 100 in October to 169 in November.

The BLA carried out 12 attacks last month. These killed 45 people, more than the fatalities from Pakistani Taliban attacks in November, the report added.

A research analyst from the institute, Safdar Sial, said the BLA was learning from the tactics of the Pakistani Taliban.

There was no ideological common ground between the two banned outfits, he said, but the BLA were successful at hitting soft targets to get big casualty numbers and deploying suicide bombers.

“This is not the same BLA as four or five years ago,” Sial told The Associated Press on Friday. 

“They are perpetrating tactical assaults. The targets have changed. The tactics have changed. It will be difficult (for the government) to tackle the threat that has developed.”

Though Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan is its least populated. It’s also a hub for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority, whose members say they face discrimination by the government.

There are also deep grievances about enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and the exploitation of the abundant natural resources at the expense of people in the province.

Rights activists say that those who demand a greater share of natural resources often go missing after being detained by security forces.

The BLA enjoyed public support in the province by aligning itself with people’s concerns about enforced disappearances, state exploitation, and inequity, said Sial.

The group’s propaganda painted the casualties of its attacks as government collaborators or accused them of being from eastern Punjab province, he added.

The BLA has targeted people from the east of the country as part of its drive to expel outsiders from Balochistan, which lies in the southwestern part of Pakistan, bordering Iran.

Sial said the government needed to win “hearts and minds” in Balochistan because the BLA was recruiting young people.

Nobody from the provincial government was available for comment on the report.

But Balochistan’s former information minister Jan Achakzai said the state had curtailed the BLA’s ability to attack infrastructure, military installations and personnel, causing the group to pivot to softer targets. 

The BLA were a tactical threat, he said, while the Pakistani Taliban were a strategic threat, whose goal was to overthrow the government and impose its interpretation of Islamic law in the country.

And while there was no comparison between the Pakistani Taliban and the BLA when it came to size or external support, the Baloch separatists were increasingly audacious, ruthless — and they were making headlines, Achakzai said.

“The recent attack was an open space, a railway station, with no security. There were civilians. They (the BLA) come out on the main highways, which aren’t easy to man” with security, he said.

Topics: Baloch separatists Pakistani Taliban Pakistan

Pakistan slashes power tariff by Rs1.14 per unit in fuel price adjustment

Pakistan slashes power tariff by Rs1.14 per unit in fuel price adjustment
Updated 07 December 2024
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Pakistan slashes power tariff by Rs1.14 per unit in fuel price adjustment

Pakistan slashes power tariff by Rs1.14 per unit in fuel price adjustment
  • Price reduction will be applied to electricity bills of December 2024, says state-run media 
  • Move likely to bring relief to businesses, citizens reeling from steep increases in electricity tariffs
Updated 07 December 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan

KARACHI: Pakistan’s National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has slashed the power tariff by Rs1.14 per unit as a fuel price adjustment measure, state-run media reported on Saturday, with the move likely to further ease inflation in the country. 

The decision is expected to provide relief to businesses and citizens, who have suffered from steep and sudden increases in electricity tariffs following energy sector reforms suggested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, electricity charges had increased by 58.8% until May this year.

“According to a statement issued by the Power Division, NEPRA has once again reduced electricity prices by Rs1.14 per unit on account of fuel adjustment,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said. 

“The price reduction will be applied to the bills of December.”

The state media said electricity prices would continue to decrease because of the government’s prudent measures.

Meanwhile, Energy Minister Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari said in a statement the government was determined to make electricity more affordable for the people.

Pakistan produces expensive electricity due to a combination of factors including high reliance on imported fossil fuels, inefficient energy mix, substantial transmission and distribution losses and chronic issues like circular debt and regulatory inefficiencies. 

The outdated infrastructure and inadequate power plants further exacerbate costs, while underutilization of domestic resources such as hydropower and coal add to the problem.

Additionally, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and complex tariff structures contribute to higher electricity prices. High power cost is one of the key factors that lead to spiraling inflation in the country.

Topics: Power Electricity prices

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