All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) on Thursday stressed his hope that chief minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif will save the textile industry of Punjab from closure by fighting its case of providing gas to the industry of the Punjab on Rs 400 per MMBTU and provision of electricity at the rate of Rs 7 per unit in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and all other forums at federal level.
This was stated by central Chairman APTMA Aamir Fayyaz while addressing a hurriedly called press conference along with chairman APTAMA Punjab Syed Ali Ahsan, Group leader APTMA Gohar Ejaz, S.M Tanveer and Ali Pervez Malik. APTMA leadership also stressed his hope that chief minister Punjab should also talk to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and federal minister Ishaq Dar to announce the much-awaited textile package and save the industry of Punjab from destruction.
They demanded availability of gas at Rs 400 per MMBTU for textile mills located in Punjab in a situation when the government has decided to shift the whole industry on the LNG while providing only 28 percent from the system gas. APTMA Punjab demands a unified energy price policy with 100 percent supply to the textile mills in Punjab, which constitute 70 percent of the whole industry in Pakistan.
Chairman APTMA Punjab Syed Ali Ahsan demanded that government should provide a level-playing field to the industry of Punjab. He also said Punjab-based mills can't operate with energy price differential of Rs 70 billion. He also said the textile units in Punjab cannot survive by paying Rs 11 per unit for the same what other provinces are paying Rs 5 per unit. "The Punjab-based textile industry was unable to sustain an annual energy tariff differential of Rs 70 billion against other provinces," he said.