Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Sunday that new agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) will stop further hike in electricity tariff across the country.

Addressing an event in Multan, Qureshi said that steps were being taken for improvements in the Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) and he had a meeting with the MEPCO chief to discuss how he could help people.

He said that 40,000 new electricity connections would be available for domestic consumers after construction of a new grid station. He said the new grid station would also provide 5,000 connections for commercial and industrial consumers. He said the project would cost the government Rs51 million.

He said different plans were under consideration to provide gas connections to consumers. He said that electricity tariff was increased due to agreements signed by the previous governments.

The foreign minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had asked the IPPs to decrease electricity rates. He said that several meetings were held to revise the agreements with the independent power producers. He said that power plants installed by the past governments were most expensive. However, he said, the federal government was close to signing new agreements to generate low-cost electricity.

The present government has not only inaugurated different projects for construction of dams but also initiated development work to benefit the future generations, he said. Qureshi said that various industries would be reopened after promoting the construction sector.