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Pakistan's Ministry of Privatisation has decided to sell LESCO and MEPCO to private investors as whole, unsplit entities rather than dividing them into smaller zones first. The move covers two of Punjab's largest distribution companies and must still clear a formal NEPRA licence transfer process before ownership changes hands.
Pakistan's Privatisation Commission has approved EY-Parthenon as financial adviser for outsourcing Lahore and Karachi airports while designating LESCO and MEPCO as the fourth batch of power distribution companies to enter the privatisation process. FESCO, leading the first DISCO batch, has already attracted around a dozen local and international investors with expressions of interest currently under review.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered a comprehensive technical audit of billing systems across all power distribution companies, directing the Power Division to set clear performance targets and eliminate electricity theft. Five DISCOs — IESCO, LESCO, GEPCO, FESCO, and MEPCO — achieved 100 per cent billing recovery in fiscal year 2025-26.
Pakistan's Auditor General has flagged HESCO, LESCO, and FESCO for operating without audited accounts from 2023 to 2025, leaving the finances of three major electricity distribution companies unverified. The same report identifies Rs117.8 billion in under-realised FBR super tax and Rs117 billion in outstanding petroleum recoveries.
Pakistan's value-added leather sector has asked the federal government to reduce high production costs, simplify multi-tier compliance, and rationalise industrial duties in the upcoming budget. Industry representatives met Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan in Islamabad on Thursday, flagging that elevated energy and input costs are limiting the sector's export growth.
LESCO has begun 4-hour daily load shedding on Lahore urban feeders, citing a 1,200MW supply shortfall as peak summer demand approaches.