Low gas pressure restricts industrial production

Businessmen lament higher tariff being charged despite gas supply at low pressure

Industrialists in Karachi have complained of low gas pressure which continues to hamper production activities and in some factories output has dropped by 50%.

“Owing to low or no gas pressure in the industries of North Karachi, 50% of production activities have come to a standstill,” said North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry (NKATI) President Faisal Moiz Khan.

In a statement on Tuesday, he said that as a result of the drop in production, timely execution of export orders was becoming increasingly difficult and there was a looming threat of cancellation of export orders if the problem persisted.

“We protest against non-supply of gas to industries and the unfulfilled promise made by Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to supply gas with consistent pressure,” he said. “We request Prime Minister Imran Khan to take notice of the problem and issue directives aimed at gas supply to the industries at required pressure.”

He recalled that the government and SSGC had given assurances to the industrialists that gas would be supplied at required pressure if they accepted the higher tariff of Rs930 per mmbtu instead of the old tariff. According to him, the industrialists had been told that the government would utilise regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) in the system to support them. However, despite the high cost, gas was not being provided to the industries at full pressure.

The NKATI president said that the industrialists were in favour of buying expensive gas till February 2021 but unfortunately SSGC failed to keep its promise. However, “the entity continues to bill the industries at the higher tariff rate.” In his statement, SITE Association of Industry President Abdul Hadi expressed dissatisfaction over the provision of basic utilities to the industries.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2020.

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