Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) restored gas supply to the industries of Faisalabad after five days, here on Thursday afternoon, while supply to 380 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations will remain suspended for two more days today (Friday) and tomorrow.
Talking to the newsmen, Chaudhry Abdul Haq, Chairman, Muhammad Akram Ghouri, Vice Chairman, All Pakistan Cotton Power-looms Association said that the power-looms industry in the populous industrial city has been badly hit by five-day gas suspension to textile processing mills and sizing units, while many textile mills closed on the fifth day due to low pressure.
The said that the worst hit are power-loom owners, as they have not been getting sized yarn from the industry and the entire production is facing delay. Resultantly, cash flow of business has stopped and power-loom owners are not in a position to clear the payment of yarn, its sizing and processing charges as well as return of bank loans as per schedule, they added.
They further said that the labour-intensive industry is facing colossal financial loss and strongly demanded that the mark-up of loans should be written off for a year to save and revive the ailing industry. Rate of electricity should be cut down for industrial sector of Punjab, they further demanded.
Expressing his views, Chaudhry Salamat Ali, Chairman Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PHMA) North Zone said that export oriented and labour intensive value added textile industry is daily facing loss of billions of rupees due to five to six day gas load-shedding within a week. He termed suspension of gas supply to Punjab and upcountry areas extremely unfair.
He feared that gas stoppage would destroy the textile industry chain, saying it is generating financial crisis, which is dangerous for industrialisation in the country and harmful for the banking sector. Salamat pointed out that millions of workers had rendered jobless while production had declined by 70 percent, which has made it impossible to fulfil export orders on time. Exporters are experiencing a colossal financial loss, as they could not export textile products, resulting in cancellation of orders, he maintained.
Chairman PHMA strongly demanded that the rate of mark-up of export refinance should be brought to single digit and one-year mark up against loans of affected textile sectors of Punjab should be frozen. The current rate, 18 to 22 percent of bank loans, should be cut 50 percent for revival of textile sector, he added.
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