Despite the claims by nearly all governments, load shedding could not come to an end. Now is the time when the summer season will start getting intense but two important items which are required to get relief in hot summer got extremely expensive. The prices of generators and UPSs have gone very high due to the restrictions on imports because of a shortage of foreign exchange reserves.
According to a dealer in Karachi, at present, the price of a 50-ampere battery is Rs.10,000-11,000 and the price of a 200-ampere battery comes to Rs.42,000-44,000. A few months ago, the price of these batteries was almost half of the current price.
Another dealer told the media, Prices have gone up since the PDM government came into power. The price of used batteries has also surged. A used 60-ampere battery now costs Rs.3,000-3,500 while its price was Rs.2,000 a year back. The concerned dealer protested that the government has no check on the manufacturers as the prices of batteries are being rained without any solid reason.
The sources told that the net sales of renowned Altas Battery Limited have gone high from Rs.20 billion to Rs.25 billion last year. The net sales of another renowned battery Exide Pakistan also went high from Rs.7.9 billion to Rs.10 billion last year, during the period ended on September 30, 2022. As such, the companies profits enhanced greatly.
A dealer of generators said, We have been waiting for the State Bank since July 2022 to allow the import of generators. The restriction has created quite a lot of problems for genuine importers. I do not think that people with limited purchasing power and the rising cost of living will ever think of buying costly generators even if load-shedding takes its toll in summer.
So far, no measures from the government seem may relive the common people from the raising prices of UPSs and generators although the announcement of load shedding has not been done yet the demand and supply situation of electricity can simply show that the load shedding cannot be avoided.