Load-shedding: FCCI warns against gas supply cuts

Industrial capacity likely to suffer further if deprived of gas.

FAISALABAD: Any decision to cut gas supply will result in stagnation of the industrial development, abnormal increase in unemployment and difficulty in meeting export orders, said Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) president Engineer Suhail Bin Rashid on Wednesday.

He said the existing gas supply of 170 mmcfd is much below the demand of 335 mmcfd in winter to Faisalabad industries.

He added that gas is an essential input for textile industries without which the production process is completely halted.

Rashid said that out of about $14 billion worth of textile exports, $10 billion come from Punjab, in which Faisalabad’s share stands at $4 billion. The non-supply of gas would make export orders and domestic demand difficult to meet. The resulting increase in the unemployment of the workforce would harm the law and order of the area.

He said that gas prices in Pakistan are highest in the region at Rs488.23 per mmcfd. Pakistan’s external reserves are in a critical stage and any further cuts might exert immense pressure on the balance of payment.

He said that the government was encouraging foreign investment.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2013.

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