I cannot comment on matters of national security: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday refused to comment about the outcome of National Security Committee, saying he was bound by his oath. Briefing media about the power projects undertaken by the PML-N government, Prime Minister Abbasi said that more than 11, 000 megawatts of electricity was added to the national grid over the last five years. “We have been producing surplus electricity in 2018. And overall, power generation went up by 35 percent,” he said. Yesterday, the demand in power supply rose to 24, 800 MW which was a new record, he said, adding there was a shortfall of 400 megawatts. Pakistan now has the capacity to generate 28, 400 MW, he said.He said that Pakistan had consumed 6.3 billion electricity units in 2013 while in 2018 it was recorded at 9.2 billion units. The prime minister said that power generation was reduced to half due to shortage of water reservoirs. “There will be no electricity shortfall in June or July if water level goes up in reservoirs.” PM Abbasi claimed that 90 percent of consumers were getting electricity this year. He further added that big dams could not be built in the country as long as a national consensus was reached among all stakeholders. He concluded that there would be no power outages by 2015 if all the projects were completed.