Industrial activity in Faisalabad region down by 60-70 percent

Industrial productivity in Faisalabad region has slumped by percent 60 to 70 percent due to long duration of gas cuts and 8 hours a day electricity shutdown, impacting negatively on business of supplies, logistics and daily wagers. In case these conditions persist, the industry will be facing total closure with devastating consequences for the economy, apprehended Wasim Latif, Chairman, and Adil Manzoor Ellahi, Vice Chairman, of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association.
Talking to newsmen, here on Wednesday, they said that the new gas load management plan has shed very negative impact on the entire industrial sector which was already passing through very challenging times due to several factors. "Not only the textile exports and production have nose-dived but the graph of unemployment has also gone up as large number of industrial units have closed down their operations," they said. "Instead of coming up with some sort of relief, the industry is being pushed to the wall," they added.
As a consequence of load shedding, the textile production capacity of various sub-sectors has been reduced to nearly 50 percent and the cost of production has risen as some industrialists use alternative source, they said. Due to such dramatic situation, 60 percent to 70 percent of the industry have been affected and are unable to accept export orders coming in from around the globe, they stated. Textile industry had already endured over heavy gas disconnection, causing extraordinary production losses and badly affecting capability of the industry.
Wasim said that inefficient load management by the gas company has not only rendered a severe blow to industrial activity but also damaged the export base of textile incurring loss of millions dollars in foreign exchange for the country. "The gas load management is highly discriminatory and without justification," he stated. He said that instead of shutting down the industry for five days a week, the gas company should have rotated the supply equally among various regions of the country. Pakistan is currently facing about 600 mmcf gas shortfall and during peak hours the gap between demand and supply reaches 900 mmcf. This severe energy crisis in Pakistan has enormous negative impact on country's economic development, he added.
Adil Manzoor said that serious trouble lies ahead for industrial and commercial sectors unless the shortage of gas is addressed. He said that the output of the industrial sector declined sharply owing to gas shortage. With constant load shedding of gas impeding industrial growth, skyrocketing prices, textile exporters are finding it increasingly hard to survive, he opined. The gas shortage has forced a large number of industries and small and medium enterprises to close down. Thousands of daily wage earners are facing another dilemma as gas supply was suspended to industrial units, he added. He further said that this problem has resulted in the loss of more than 300,000 jobs and is inflicting on the industrial sector alone an annual loss of millions of dollars.
PTEA officials said that they were unable to understand why the actual stakeholders were not taken into confidence over industry related issues. "If there are problems, the government must bring into the notice of real stakeholders well ahead of time". They further said that gas shortage is hampering the growth of industries, which would affect the growth of overall exports of the country. Fair distribution of shortage of gas is imperative and it would be acceptable to all the segments. They asked the government to remove discrimination in the gas load shedding, and demanded distribution of gas shortfall equally all over the country.