It is one of the notable achievements for Pakistan's power sector that the CTBCM has been initiated under the amended NEPRA Act of 2018.

CTBCM, which is the wholesale electricity market, was initially conceptualized under the 1992 WAPDA Strategic Plan for the unbundling of the power sector. In actuality, the idea was not realized until NEPRA approved the CTBCM in December 2019 (High-Level Design) and November 2020 (Detailed Design).

In accordance with the approved CTBCM implementation roadmap, the relevant regulations were approved and notified within the 18-month timeframe. 

In addition, all the crucial actions, including the deployment of an IT system and the implementation of market departments (MIRADs) in DISCOs, have been successfully carried out within the record 18 months.

It is anticipated that the CTBCM will improve the governance of the power sector through institutional reforms, improved procurement practices, and better payment discipline.

Through this program, DISCOs will be able to utilize merchant generators without take-or-pay contracts, develop bilateral contracts by analyzing demand forecasts, gradually move away from sovereign guarantees, integrate KEs into central dispatch resulting in savings of billions of rupees, deploy information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) tools, automate business processes, build human resource capacity, etc.

 Successfully implementing the CTBCM could turn around the overall technical, financial, commercial, and legal climate in the power sector. In addition, large consumers will be able to buy electric power from the suppliers of their choice at lower, bilaterally agreed prices instead of DISCOs at regulated rates.

NEPRA appreciates the efforts of all key implementation entities, including the Ministry of Energy (petroleum division), CPPA-G, Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB), Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB), National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC), Distribution companies (DISCOs), Karachi Electric (KE), and other stakeholders in achieving major milestones of the CTBCM Implementation Roadmap in a record eighteen months.

According to NEPRA, CTBCM will be tested for 6 months. In this test run, all IT systems and processes will be put under stress to ensure they are reliable and efficient. This will ensure that necessary adjustments are made in the regulatory documents before the actual transactions take place under CTBCM.