The Founders Group of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has asked the government to take immediate measures to eliminate circular debt so that the gap between demand and supply could be curtailed. Secondly, line losses and power theft should be controlled.
The Group's leaders raised this demand at a meeting held in connection with LCCI's forthcoming election. Senior leader Mian Muhammad Ashraf presided over the meeting while Iftikhar Ali Malik, Syed Mohsin Raza Bukhari, Mian Misbah-ur-Rehman, Sheikh Muhammad Asif, Shahid Hassan Sheikh, Mian Muzaffar Ali, Farooq Iftikhar, Ijaz A Mumtaz, Abdul Basit and dozens of trade & industrial association's representatives were also present on the occasion.
Above all, the government should focus on construction of water reservoirs. Amongst the alternate sources of energy biomass shows tremendous potential. The total capacity in biomass was over 22000MW in Pakistan to which little technical training was required to bring this resource in use. Alternate Energy Board must concentrate on it to establish these units in villages, they added.
He said the energy demand is growing with every passing day. Though the government is working in energy sector effectively and a number of power projects are in the pipeline but at the same time it is the duty of the government to develop alternate means of electricity generation. If some measures would have taken a decade ago, the situation would have been different today, he added.
Mian Muhammad Ashraf said that coal, hydropower and biomass can produce energy at a flat rate of less than Rs 5 per unit for next twenty years, helping manufacturing industry to grow unabated with no taxation on inputs and availability of technically better quality workforce. He suggested that the state should withdraw all profiteering and taxation from energy sector.
The leaders also endorsed the business community demand for bringing down the rate of general sales tax to single digit as the high rate of general sales tax in vogue in the country was discouraging the people from coming into the tax net. All local chambers could help the state in recovering and documenting economy so that only direct taxes should be levied and indirect taxation should be removed.
They vowed to continue efforts for economic boost and to resolve the challenges being faced by the business community but will also help government by giving viable solutions of the economic ills. They also evolved a joint strategy for the LCCI forthcoming election while trade, industry and economy related various issues came under discussion.
Mian Asharf said that the Group would continue to play a meaningful and collective role for the cause of business community and the economy. The business community is ready to do everything to make the country a hub of business and economic activities but need was to provide them a good business atmosphere. Earlier, LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder and Vice President Nasir Saeed presented performance report.