{
  "id": 8801684,
  "title": "Govt begins to move out of power business",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/govt-begins-to-move-out-of-power-business",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-20T23:53:47.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Recorder",
    "slug": "business-recorder",
    "url": "https://www.brecorder.com/news/40440442/govt-begins-to-move-out-of-power-business"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Islamabad - The government has taken a significant step towards transitioning Pakistan's power sector from a centralized model to a competitive electricity market, where the government will no longer be involved in purchasing or selling electricity. Federal Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari outlined these changes in a video message, explaining that the new system will initially target industrial and large consumers, with a capacity of more than one megawatt. The Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM) mechanism will enable businesses and industrial consumers to purchase electricity directly from power producers on a competitive basis. Under this new system, the Power Division has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Pakistan's first-ever electricity wheeling auction. The 800 megawatts of electricity to be auctioned over the next five years will be divided into 400 megawatts in the initial phase. The auction process will follow a structured five-step procedure, including issuance of auction documents, evaluation of eligibility, evaluation of bids, approval of auction results, and award of quantum. The government's move aims to bring greater transparency to electricity procurement and trading, ultimately benefiting industries by reducing production costs and enhancing competitiveness in international markets.",
  "summary": "ISLAMABAD: The government has taken a major step towards transforming Pakistan’s power sector from a single-buyer model to a competitive electricity market, under which it would neither sell electricity nor purchase power from producers in the traditional manner. Federal Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari made this announcement in a video message on Sunday. He said that under the…",
  "key_points": [
    "Government transitioning Pakistan's power sector to competitive market.",
    "Federal Minister outlines changes in video message.",
    "CTBCM enables businesses to buy electricity directly from producers."
  ],
  "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."
}