Chairman All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association (APTPMA) Mian Aftab Ahmed has said a sharp increase in electricity tariff, and now forced inclusion of 0.51 paisa on per unit as fuel adjustment charges on electricity bills will prove harmful for textile and especially for the textile processing industry, which is already on the verge of complete collapse due to acute shortage of Sui gas and electricity load-shedding.
Talking to journalists he said that due to the load-shedding of Sui gas and electricity, industrialists were being forced to close down their units. Due to the closure of a number of textile industries, millions of wage earners had lost their jobs. The country had lost foreign exchange due to sharp decrease in export of textile products.
In this current situation, if inclusion of fuel adjustment charges" in the electricity bills were not withdrawn forthwith, the owners of textile processing industry would have to close their units completely.
Chairman APTPMA demanded of President Zardari, Prime Minister Gilani, Federal Minister for Textile Industry, Rana M. Farooq Saeed Khan, Federal Minister for Financne Shaukat Tareen, Federal Minister for Water and Power, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Federal Minister for Petroleum Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Federal Minister for Industry Meer Hazar Khan Bijarani to exempt the textile processing industry from Sui gas and electricity load-shedding according to the textile policy. According to Sui gas load-management policy, gas supply to textile processing units may not be disconnected for more than two days a week.