Lahore - President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry has urged the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) to resolve the issues of tripping, low voltage and unscheduled loadshedding in Ferozepur Road Industrial Area.
Talking to a delegation of Ferozepur Road Industrial Association (FRIA), led by its Chairman Khawaja Shahzeb Akram, LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that how the government would be able to collect revenues to run its day-to-day affairs when the industrial wheel was coming to a halt.
The delegation informed the LCCI president that tripping and unscheduled loadshedding were ruining the industrial activities in the Ferozepur Road Industrial area.
The LCCI president said that the government should understand that economic well being was a must.
He said that the industry needed a continuous power supply to keep the units operational and to complete the export orders well within the given timeframe; but only because of the shortage of electricity the exports were not up to the mark.
He said that Pakistan had already lost a number of international markets and the new longer hour power cuts would further aggravate the situation.
Sheikh reminded that Ferozepur Road Industrial Area was not the only victim of tripping, low voltage and unscheduled loadshedding; therefore LESCO should resolve this issue at the earliest.
Punjab textile mills suffer
10-hour loadshedding
The textile industry in Punjab is facing around 10-hour electricity loadshedding, causing closure of one shift during the holy month of Ramazan. However, majority of the mills, which are operating on the RLNG-fed Captive Power Plants, are continuously running.
The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Chairman Aamir Fayyaz said that demand of electricity-dependent textile mills is in between 120-150 megawatt on independent feeders and these mills are being subjected to nine and a half hour loadshedding per day since the start of the Holy month of Ramazan. The electricity-dependent mills have closed down one shift operations due to the non-availability of power supply in Punjab and unfortunately laid off workers during this month.
Aamir Fayyaz has dispelled the impression that the distribution companies are diverting electricity to the textile mills and causing load shedding to domestic consumers, saying that majority of the textile mills in Punjab are operating on the RLNG-fed Captive Power Plants. The parliamentarians in the National Assembly have pointed out that power supply is being sold to the textile mills by the DISCOs and causing load shedding to domestic consumers.
Chairman APTMA has urged the policy makers to lift moratorium on new gas connections to the textile mills on independent feeders, enabling them also to avail the RLNG facility and keep their operations intact 24/7.
He further demanded sanctioning of new gas connections to the investors planning new units so that the issue of energy supply to the textile industry can be settled once and for all.
