PTEA flays cut in gas supply to textile industry From Our Correspondent FAISALABAD: The Pakistan Textile Exporters Association has resented injudicious cut in gas supply quota for the textile industry, terming it an attempt to shatter the whole industrial chain. In a statement here, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association chairman Asghar Ali and vice-chairman Arif Mahmood Qureshi said that the government should ensure at least 25 per cent gas supply to the textile export sector in winter under quota regime. Criticising the plea of gas managers that supply was compressed due to cold weather, they said that it was not feasible because the weather had not yet touched the critical temperature point. The gas supply to export-oriented textile sector never dropped from 20 per cent in past, they said and added that reduction in gas supply would cut down the manufacturing of export goods and exporters would not be able to fulfill their commitments to the foreign buyers. They termed energy shortage as the prime cause of economic instability and decline in industrial growth. They said that it was unfortunate that energy shortfall had totally been shifted to the industry. The government, on one side, was contemplating to increase targets for industrial growth and on the other side, its unjustified decisions were posing severe threats for achieving the targets, they added. PTEA chairman Asghar Ali said that exports were consecutively showing declining trend since start of the fiscal year and export numbers in coming months might be even worse as the textile industry in Punjab had been deprived of its basic fuel, he apprehended. At the moment when the industrial production and exports were registering negative growth and the industrialists were facing severe difficulties, reduction in gas supply would further lead to financial loss, he added. PTEA vice-chairman Arif Mahmood Qureshi said that at a time when all the neighbouring countries were on the path to rapid growth, the economic situation in Pakistan was getting out of hand. It would not the production loss alone but the loss of export orders had now become the order of the day and it was a known fact that the foreign buyers were diverting their orders to the other regional countries, he added.
