{
  "id": 3207309,
  "title": "PD identifies coal discount gaps causing Rs380mn annual losses to Pakistan",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/pd-identifies-coal-discount-gaps-causing-rs380mn-annual-losses-to",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-25T06:35:34.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Recorder",
    "slug": "business-recorder",
    "url": "https://www.brecorder.com/news/40436448/pd-identifies-coal-discount-gaps-causing-rs380mn-annual-losses-to-pakistan"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The Power Division (PD) has identified inefficiencies in the procurement of imported coal for Pakistan's coal-fired power plants, which are causing annual losses of up to Rs380 million to the national exchequer. The PD, during high-level meetings chaired by Federal Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, reviewed actual data, contractual arrangements, and market practices, revealing significant discrepancies in the discounts received by different power plants from the same suppliers. These discrepancies ranged from $0.25 to $7.12 per metric ton, despite all plants using the same international pricing benchmark. The PD attributed the disparity to varying discounts negotiated with suppliers, some of which were lower than those offered to other plants. The PD has issued policy guidelines to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority to enforce transparency, consistency, and competition in coal procurement. A key reform involves requiring power plants to purchase coal from their contracted suppliers offering the highest discount against the applicable international benchmark, aiming to save approximately Rs380 million annually.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}