Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday that the government would approach the provinces for the implementation of a policy aimed at saving energy. Briefing the media after a meeting of the federal cabinet, Asif that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had held several meetings on the issue and a final decision would be taken by Thursday.

He said that estimates had shown that if 20 per cent of the government workforce worked from home on a rotation basis, Rs56 billion could be saved. “It is mainly about the nation limiting its lifestyle,” he said. He further said that the timing of wedding halls would be limited to 10pm, while restaurants, hotels and markets would close down by 8pm. He, however, said that there may be some room for the closing time for restaurants to be extended by an hour.

The minister said that by implementing these few steps, the country would be able to save Rs62bn. Asif said that the government was slowly working on shifting to renewable energy but until that was achieved, such measures were important. He went on to say that energy-efficient fans and bulbs would soon be introduced in the market, which would further help save Rs38 billion. “Similarly, if street lights are used alternatively, we would be able to save Rs4 billion.” The minister also revealed that the government was in talks with motorcycle companies for electric bikes. “The motorcycles that run on petrol will slowly be phased out.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP