Payment of rebate to exporters: Senate body asks Textile Ministry to speed up process

The Senate Standing Committee on Textile Industry has asked Textile Ministry to speed up the process of payment of rebate to exporters, as only Rs 1.7 billion out of Rs 17 billion has so far been paid. The committee also asked the ministry to provide details of subsidies, the government provided to the sector.
The committee further directed the ministry to let it know about the statistics of tax returns of the textile industry, Business Recorder learnt on Friday. The committee in its meeting, which was attended by Senator Ismail Buledi, Senator Haji Adeel, Senator Javed Ashraf Qazi, Senator Saeed Ahmed Hashmi and Senator Mir Israrullah with Senator Gul Muhammad Lot in the chair, stressed the need for finding ways to meet the textile exports target of $25 billion by 12015.
Asking All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) to set up a department for generating new varieties of cotton seeds, the committee members observed that the $25 billion textile exports could be achieved through robust growth in the raw material, cotton.
The committee recommended that Pakistan's per acre yield of cotton should be improved like India and directed the ministry to expand its activities to the industry's entire sectors rather concentrating on end-products. The meeting wanted the textile ministry to compile an authentic statistics of all the sectors and records instead of maintaining information provided to it voluntarily. The committee said that the ministry should chalk out a strategy to meet the anticipated shortfall of cotton this year and work closely with ministries of agriculture and commerce.
The Senators also asked the ministry to prepare a report on issues and challenges, which the local textile industry was facing and propose remedial steps as well. The members said the ministry should hold meetings with the three major sectors of the industry including value-added textile sector, spinning millers and ginners to devise a plan to meet the growing challenges to the industry.
During the meeting, Dr Buledi suggested that the huge land of Balochistan could be cultivated for increase in cotton yield, which included areas from Mirani Dam to Gwadar and stressed the need for exploring opportunities in the province. Secretary Ministry of Textile Industry, Shahid Rashid apprised the committee that the government had to take regulatory steps last year to meet the local demand after the cotton shortage hit the country and the world. However, he made it clear that the government had reversed its regulatory steps and let the market function freely.
He told the meeting that the cotton production was expected to go down by about 11.8 million bales this year and anticipating a shortfall of four million bales. Chairman Pakistan Apparel Forum (PAF) Muhammad Javed Bilwani said the textile sector globally was seen important for employing 47 per cent people in the country, while Chairman Aptma Gohar Ejaz said the exporters were not getting the six percent rebate from the government.