Removal of cross subsidy: Ministry's apathy multiplies woes of textile industry

Textile industry is confused over the outcome of the 2009-10 budget, as the summary relating to the removal of cross subsidy has not yet been put forward by the Textile Ministry. The industry sources told Business Recorder on Monday that the worries of the textile industry were multiplying with every passing day because of the dilly-dallying attitude of the Textile Ministry.
Sources from among the Faisalabad textile millers said they were planning to protest against the lack of interest shown by the Textile Ministry on problems being faced by the textile industry.
Meanwhile, some influential textile millers are in the process of calling on Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin and newly-appointed Chairman of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Sohail Ahmed to apprise them of ground situation and urge them to use their offices for an early relief to the industry.
It may be noted that the textile industry has been agitating against the cross subsidy of 12.5 percent for fertiliser sector and demanding rigorously to put an end to this discrimination. Hopes are high that the government will withdraw this arrangement once and for all to provide relief to the textile industry, which is already facing crisis like situation because of high mark up, unprecedented load shedding and absence of a level playing field against its regional competitors.
There are reports that some banks have recently lodged FIRs against a dozen textile mills for short of stock and efforts are being made to resolve the issue amicably before any legal action taken.
Further, many big business houses are committing alternate defaults to keep their units operational in a situation where a good number of single units have already closed down operations and defaulted to banks' payments.
The Textile Ministry has been tough interacting with the stakeholders over the last few months, but the ministry has failed to meet the industry demands. Instead, the ministry has restricted its efforts to briefing sessions and collecting recommendations without setting any deadline to resolve the issues.
It is interesting to note that former textile minister Mushtaq Cheema had also failed to appease the Textile Ministry. While highly unimpressive and lacking the courage to take up the industry issues boldly in the Cabinet, Cheema was the most unpopular minister for textile. He was replaced with Rana Farook Saeed, who once known as Farooqa terror during his college days. Rana Farook has yet to prove his credentials, but the unrest on the part of textile industry suggests that he is also not very much successful in meeting the emerging needs of the industry.