Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab Ahsan Bashir has feared large scale closures, heavy bankruptcies and massive lays off in case textile industry in Punjab is deprived of gas supply for another 100 days during Winter Load Management Programme 2010-11.
He said textile industry in Punjab is already suffering heavily due to gas load shedding to textile Captive Power Plants (CPPs) installed for manufacturing goods predominantly meant for exports. The industry remained off supply for over 45 days in summer whereas winter load shedding is yet to start.
According to him, share of the textile industry alone in the Punjab is 70 percent of total installed capacity in Pakistan may it be spinning, weaving, processing or knitting.
He said the SNGPL estimates suggest that Punjab is going to face 600mmcfd gas shortage during winter and fears are high on the part of textile millers that the government would meet this load shortage through supply suspension to textile industry for 100 days.
Ahsan said textile industry operations are a continuous process to generate export-oriented goods on 24/7 basis 365 days a year on three shifts basis. He said industry employs over 2.5 million-direct workforce with over a million families' dependant on uninterrupted operations of textile mills.. If textile is burdened with load shedding in winter, this injudicious policy would lead to catastrophic situation in the province.
Chairman APTMA Punjab urged the government to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to textile industry during winter to save the foreign exchange earner of the country, especially in the wake of market access facility from the EU. November 2, 2010.
All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA)
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