Attention: Something unusual is happening inside Karachi’s factories. The machines are consuming more electricity than ever before. There is something genuinely positive here.
Plain fact: In FY26, Karachi’s industrial consumers used 6.08 billion kWh of electricity up from 5.04 billion kWh a year earlier. That is an increase of 20.6 per cent in a single year. That is a substantial jump.
For the record: Industrial electricity consumption at K-Electric has broken a record that had stood for four years. In an economy accustomed to bad news, this deserves attention. Not celebration.
Attention. Factories do not consume megawatts for headlines. They consume megawatts for output. Machines do not run on sentiment. They run on orders. Industrial meters do not measure optimism. They measure activity. Yes, the machines are running. The meters are moving. And after four difficult years, Karachi’s industrial pulse is beating faster.
For the record: During FY26, K-Electric energised 349 new industrial connections and 273 existing industrial customers increased their sanctioned load. According to K-Electric, the largest electricity-consuming category was B3 – industrial consumers taking between 501 kW and 5,000 kW. KE specifically identifies: Textiles. Steel. Cement. In practical Karachi terms, those industrial feeders supply the manufacturing belt stretching through SITE, Korangi, Landhi, Port Qasim, North Karachi and surrounding industrial zones.
Here are the five most striking production increases: automobiles, up 58.8 per cent; sugar, 31.5 per cent; petroleum products, 10.6 per cent; garments, 7.3 percent; and cement, 7.2 per cent. One billion additional units in twelve months. More factories are connecting. Existing factories are increasing their loads. Production is rising.
The machines are beginning to speak. Machines have no sentiments. Machines have no political affiliations. They respond to orders, costs and demand. And right now, Karachi’s machines are saying something worth listening to.
The writer is an Islamabad-based columnist.
