Chances of electricity-reliant spinning units' survival are becoming bleak with every passing day and the spinning circles believe that 50 percent of 125 Pepco-fed units are mostly like to close down in 2010. Out of about 125 Pepco-fed spinning units, some 70 are directly members of Aptma where the concerned committee has almost lost hope due to non-serious attitude of the government for introducing special tariff for such units.
Those who are out of Aptma ambit are heading fast to closing down like situation, as textile is a business where either you are running a mill or not and there's midway. The spinning industry circles are of the view that the downstream industry would be hit hard out of the situation, as only Pepco-fed spinning units are able to meet 95 percent local demand for yarn.
Situation would be quite embarrassing for value-added sector once fifty percent of Pepco-fed spinners face unnatural death out of 2007-onwards unprecedented load shedding and rising tariff of electricity. It may be noted that the spinning industry is converting fast on gas-fed captive power units but of majority of such units are manufacturing for export purposes.
Interestingly, these units have also received a blow from the Ministry of Textile when it restricted exports of yarn to 35,000 tones a month, leading to unprecedented Aptma strike on March 18. Negotiations between government, Aptma and apparel sector are underway at present amid courts' relief to the spinners against quota imposition. But the textile circles believe that the apparel sector has yet to face real threat when Pepco-fed spinning units would closed down in next six to nine months in case the government failed to address problems confronting them.
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