Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced withdrawal of the 17% GST on solar panels primarily to cut the oil import bill, which has ballooned to $20 billion. He made the announcement at a meeting with businesspeople and industrialists of Karachi on Sunday. The lifting of GST on solar panels will encourage the use of clean energy and thereby cut the oil import bill. While the rupee has been in free fall in relation to the dollar, the crude oil price in the international market too has been on the upswing due mainly to its rising demand because of the disruption in the supply of natural gas from Russia. Countries deficient in energy have been left with no option but to increase the import of oil. This has resulted in a situation that varies from country to country. Pakistan is placed in a precarious situation as its forex reserves too have depleted.
Seemingly oblivious of the…
Viability of clean energy
