Raise in gas tariff: Textile units shut down

FAISALABAD - Hundreds of textile units in and around Faisalabad were shut down in protest against the gas price-hike and discontinuation of Research and Development support facility to the exporters.

Industrial units closure was announced after an emergent meeting of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) held here on Friday. The textile exporters have rejected 31 per cent hike in gas tariff. The members pointed out that R&D facility was not a subsidy but the support facility was given because of the duties and taxes paid by the exporters and industry. The meeting rejected volume-based R&D as it will wipe out small and medium exporters and create monopoly of few exporters.

The members warned that if immediate remedial measure were not taken by the government, the economy would suffer an irreparable loss. Textile sector is the biggest foreign exchange earning division with 60 per cent of total forex earning and it is contributing 9 per cent to GDP while providing to 40 per cent work force. The closure of textile units would also cause huge loss to the exchequer in shape of revenue, they said and pointed out that the work force would be rendered jobless, putting the industrial growth in the region at stake.

Sources disclosed that chambers of commerce and industries across the country would also go on strike after July 15 if the government failed to announce a relief package.

Muhammad Akhtar Khokhar, chairman Sports Goods Association Sialkot; Muhammad Ali Mian, president Lahore Chamber of Commerce; Mian Muhammad Yousaf, president Sheikhupura Chamber of Commerce; and Ziaullah Mirza, senior vice-president Sialkot Chamber of Commerce would reach Faisalabad to join the protests of the business community.

Announcing the unanimous decision of the industrialists, Kh Asim Khurshid, chairman Joint Action Committee of Industrialists and Textile Exporters, has announced that chambers of commerce in all major cities like Sialkot, Lahore, Sheikhupura, Sukkur, Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Mianwali would go on strike.

Muhammad Javed Aslam, chairman Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association  North Zone, and Muhammad Ali Mian, president LCCI, said government had already increased petroleum prices manifold, now with the 31 per cent increase in gas tariff and a hike of Rs 3  in electricity tariff in next few days, the prices of commodities would shoot up.

Mian Muhammad Yousaf, president Sheikhupura Chamber of Commerce, said R&D was not a subsidy but rather a reward for the duties and taxes paid by the exporters and industries.

Ijaz Abbas, president ICCI, and Ch Rauf, president RCCI, said textile exporters are unable to compete with their regional rivals with such rising costs of inputs. The marginal relief available in shape of R&D support has been suspended further, augmenting the troubles of alredy crumbling textile export sector, he argued.

The textile exporters announced that ICCI and RCCI would go no strike after July 15 if government failed to announce an expected textile relief package.