All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has urged the government to exempt the export oriented textile industry from the proposed power tariff hike and save it from imminent closure. In a statement here Monday, APTMA Chairman Iqbal Ibrahim said that member mills of APTMA were the best customers of Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and had an immaculate record of paying their electricity bills in time.
Furthermore, he pointed out that electricity line loss of Wapda and Disco's range from 12 percent to 35 percent, whereas the line losses of textile sector on independent feeders are less than two percent. "Despite of textile sector's positive role in improving financial performance of Wapda and Disco, the industry is being subjected to further increases in electricity cost, which would adversely affect the health of the country's premier foreign exchange earner," he added.
Ibrahim urged the government and National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) chairman to reward textile industry rather than penalising it by freezing its electricity tariff for the period of two years. In order to save the textile industry and enable it to effectively compete in the international market place, it is high time for the government to introduce a separate tariff for the textile industry.
He pointed out that electricity tariff had already been increased by 23 percent in the recent past and industry could not sustain further increases, especially since energy was the most expensive component of a mill's operating cost as compared to other industries, electricity tariff for the textile sector must be reviewed in this light.-PR
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