LAHORE - The Pakistan Industrial & Traders Association Front (PIAF) has opposed the government’s decision of giving relief to the domestic power consumers by diverting a limited quantity of industry’s gas to the thermal power plants to generate additional 300MW electricity to reduce loadshedding in the country.The PIAF did not like the government idea of lessening woes of public by increasing power generation and demanded of the government to withdraw the decision immediately in the interest of industrial sector. In a press statement issued here Monday, Chairman PIAF Sohail Lashari said that it would be better if Prime Minister consults with the stakeholders before taking such initiatives.He said that further curtailment of gas would push the textile industry to the wall that was already facing huge problems owing to the high input cost and high mark-up rate etc. Therefore, he said that the government should give priority to this sector and avoid from unleashing to gas load shedding otherwise the industry, particularly textile processing and knitting units would close down their operation.He said that the unannounced and prolonged electricity load shedding has already crippled the industrial activities while load shedding of gas would badly hit the textile industry that is the largest export sector of the country.He said that further load shedding of gas would bring economic activities to a grinding halt so the government should give priority to this sector in order to revive economic activities in the country.He said that instead of controlling electricity theft of billion rupees, government has planned to cut the gas supply of textile industry and provide it to the private power producers that would result in closure of a good number of industrial units, one of the leading job providing sectors.He said that at the moment when the industrial production was registering negative growth and the business community was facing severe difficulties in dealing with banks, the increase in gas load shedding would leave them with no other option but to shut down their units.