The Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (CCoSOE) has approved the reconstitution of the boards of nine power distribution companies (DISCOs), sources within the government said on Friday.

After cabinet-level approval, a notification will be issued to initiate the process of analysing and restructuring the boards. The committee has given the go-ahead to form new boards for the DISCOs.

At a press conference on June 11, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said the power theft in the sector was around Rs500 billion and called for improving the corporate governance of power distribution companies. “We are going to take these DISCOs to the private sector,” he said and stressed that they cannot remain in the public sector.

Based on the recommendations of the Board Nomination Committee led by the power minister, the cabinet committee approved the reconstitution of the boards of companies like LESCO, FESCO, MEPCO, GEPCO, and IESCO.

Boards of PESCO, QESCO, TESCO and HESCO would also be newly formed, according to sources.

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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had previously stopped the reconstitution of the boards of SEPCO and HESCO.

The federal government recently amended the law related to SOEs. An ordinance was also introduced to remove legal hurdles and complexities in the reconstitution of the boards.

The performance of independent directors on the boards of power companies has been “unsatisfactory,” sources said and added that professionals would now be appointed to these company boards.