Textile exporters and industrialists urged the government to immediately stop discrimination in gas supply to upcountry industries, as 3-day in a week gas suspension has forced closure of industrial units, rendering thousands of workers unemployed. In an emergent meeting of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association held on Wednesday, they demanded of the government to subsidise alternative fuels for upcountry industries.
Chairman PTEA Rana Arif Tauseef briefing newsmen after the meeting said that textile exports of the country hit by three days gas suspension were already tottering as evidenced by October export figures. Quoting the figures, he pointed out that the export of cotton yarn has declined 26 percent while the export of cotton cloth was showing steep decline of 32.
Similarly knitwear export has come down by 26 percent and of bed wears 28 percent. Export of towels is down by 12 percent and of readymade garments by 14 percent in the month of October. Instead of dealing with the situation, the textile industry was being pushed to the wall.
The industry would remain shut for 120 days out of 365 days of the year; manufacturing would be reduced and industrial output would be down by 33 percent. Millions of daily wagers would be out of job and the exports of the country would further decline, he apprehended.
Tauseef said that due to gas shortage not only the textile exports and productions have nose-dived but the graph of unemployment has also gone up as a large number of industrial units have closed down their operations. Due to prolonged loadshedding, the textile production capacity of various sub sectors has been reduced up to 60 percent and cost of production has also risen as some industrialists use alternative source, he said. Due to such dramatic situation, 60 to 70 percent of the industry has been affected and was unable to accept export orders coming in from around the globe, he stated.
The government still could not develop long-term strategy and planning to tackle energy crisis, which was putting an adverse effect on the production, he said. Exporters of textiles were in a deep trouble, because they would not be able to produce and export textile products within the given time frame.
The chairman PTEA said that the discriminatory attitude of the government was not only denting its goodwill and reputation but had also put a question mark on its ability to manage and govern things. He said that the units in southern region were getting almost uninterrupted supply. Upcountry industrialists were risking everything to keep the wheel of economy running and were compelled to use four times costlier alternative fuels. However, the government was not paying heed to their problems due to which they have become desperate, he lamented. He said that if there is any constitutional or political hindrance, the government should subsidize the alternative fuels for upcountry industries.
The textile industry was providing jobs to millions of people apart from paying good amount of tax in the national kitty. But cold shoulder approach of the government was hurting their businesses and pushing many industrial units on the verge of closure, which could render a large number of workers jobless, he added. Tauseef demanded subsidy on alternative fuels to minimise the negative impact of gas loadshedding and restoration of gas supply to the textile industry, which was backbone of the national economy.