Central Chairman APTMA S M Tanveer has said there is no subsidy of any sort on the textile industry's electricity tariff. Instead, he said, 67 percent increase in textile industry tariff has made it unsustainable. Furthermore, the textile industry has been burdened with cross-tariff subsidy despite the nearly zero line losses on textile industry feeders.
He was chairing a meeting of the Association on Friday. Chairman APTMA Punjab Seth Muhammad Akbar, Central Vice Chairman APTMA Visa A Monnoo and Managing Committee members were also present in the meeting. S M Tanveer said the press conference of Federal Minister for Water & Power Kh Muhammad Asif has astonished many among the textile industry, objecting his claim of providing 100 percent subsidy on electricity.
He said Pakistan was on the top in terms of electricity tariff for industry in the region. "The cost of electricity for industry comes around 15 cents in Pakistan, which is costlier in comparison to the regional competitors including India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The imposition of global line loss figures on textile industry has increased the electricity cost by 67 percent. While linked with gas shortage, the Punjab-based textile mills are paying Rs 100 billion additional under the head of energy costs against other provinces," he added.
S M Tanveer said the phenomenon had already brought the country's exports down by $1 billion in last five months. The country may lose $2.5 billion exports in total in case the prevailing energy shortage continues for Punjab-based textile industry. Speaking on the occasion, Chairman APTMA Punjab Seth Muhammad Akbar said 80 percent of Pakistan's textile industry was based in Punjab, adding high energy cost had rendered 40 percent capacity closed throughout Punjab. Resultantly, he said, hundreds and thousands of textile workers had been laid off. S M Tanveer has urged the government to take initiatives for uninterrupted energy supply at affordable as well as regionally competitive rates.
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