Industrial concerns: ‘Exempt textile industry from gas load shedding’

Muhammad Akram Pasha demanded similar exemption from gas load shedding.

FAISALABAD:

Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) central chairman Muhammad Akram Pasha said on Monday exemption of the textile industry from electricity load shedding was a welcome step and demanded similar exemption from gas load shedding.

Talking to newsmen, he said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s announcement of exemption of the textile industry from electricity load shedding would take the industry in the “right direction.”

He said many industrialists and yarn dealers had welcomed the announcement.

He said electricity and gas were essential inputs for the textile industry.

He said electricity was required to run power looms to manufacture cloth and gas was required for bleaching, dyeing, printing and processing of the clothes. Akram said hosiery and garments sectors also needed electricity and gas. “It is in this context that I urge the government to announce exemption of the industry from gas load shedding for the entire industry,” he said.  “This will help the industry increased productivity and maintain jobs,” he added.

He said exports had registered a decline of 5.25 per cent in October and November. He said according to estimates, this amounted to a loss of $1.2 billion in textile exports. “There is a need to stem this decline as soon as possible,” he said.  He said it was imperative that gas and electricity be supplied in winter months to contain export deficit.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2014.