Gas supply to Punjab industries to remain uncertain till March 15

Industrialists condemn ‘discrimination’, predict worsening of economic crisis.

LAHORE: The supply of natural gas to industries in Punjab will remain uncertain till March 15 but industrial consumers will be given some form of relief during that time if there is any improvement in the situation, according to Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) General Manager Rehan Nawaz.

“The current cold wave across the country has resulted in a sharp increase in gas consumption by the domestic sector due to the use of natural gas for water-heating and space-heating,” said Nawaz, adding that the gas shortfall has reached 550 million cubic feet.

He claimed that the domestic sector’s gas consumption was estimated to double from its consumption during summer months, resulting in a widening of the gap between demand and supply.

He also said that there is no discrimination in the supply of gas to Punjab and that SNGPL has not violated constitution. “Article 158 authorises the SNGPL to suspend natural gas to the industry to meet the need of domestic users,” he explained.

Under these circumstances, he said that the company has been left with no other option except to suspend the supply of natural gas to major industrial sectors, as an interim arrangement, to ensure uninterrupted supply to domestic consumers.

Industry reacts

The Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) has urged an immediate end to the suspension of gas supply to the industry in Punjab to prevent worsening of the economic decline in the country, The Express Tribune has learnt.

PIAF Chairman Irfan Qaiser Sheikh and other officials criticised the decision, saying it was a plot to kill both the industry and industrial workers.

“Industry leaders have said that industrialists will not be able to pay their dues if corrective measures are not taken immediately,” the chairman said, adding that nobody will be able to repay his banking dues when his industrial unit will be on the verge of closure.

They also predicted that the economic crisis will deepen as the industry had failed to fulfil its existing export orders.

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry also urged the government to immediately stop the “discriminatory” closure of gas supply to industries in Punjab as the suspension had already caused the closure of over 1,300 industrial units, rendering thousands of workers unemployed.

LCCI Acting President Sheikh Mohammad Arshad said that the industrial sector could destabilise and unemployment will increase if the situation remains the same. He said that around 40 per cent of industrial units in Punjab run on gas, which could mean no production by almost half of the industry.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2010.