LAHORE  - Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab S M Tanveer has said that the textile industry cannot sustain the gas supply suspension. Therefore, gas and electricity supply be ensured to keep employment intact and production of exportable surplus during winter.
He said the country may face a loss of over $2 billion exports at the anvil of GSP plus facility from the EU, as the export-oriented textile industry operates 24/7 to produce textile goods and earns precious foreign exchange, badly needed to check fast depleting foreign exchange reserves and an under pressure currency.Chairman APTMA Punjab has urged the government to provide uninterrupted gas and electricity supply to the Punjab-based textile industry, enabling it to perform to the maximum.
There should be no change in 40pc quota of energy-intensive textile industry during winter to keep intact its 24/7 operations, well-equipped with in-house electricity generation facility with zero line losses as well as wastage besides timely payment of utility bills and no circular debt liability, he added.
S M Tanveer has apprehended that gas supplies suspension may result into layoffs, bankruptcies, NPLs and a loss of opportunity to earn precious foreign exchange. The industry will also lose an opportunity to recover from sluggish trends, he stressed. He also emphasized the domestic consumers to use prudently gas for space and water heating during winter in order to keep industry wheel running for continuity of jobs for their bread-earners attached with textile industry in majority after agriculture.