Sindh Assembly told: Power ‘crisis’ severely impacting industry

KARACHI: In a Sindh Assembly session on Monday, a parliamentary secretary admitted that the present electricity crisis has severely impacted the industrial sector, pushing cement and textile mills into a deep recession.

Between 2018 and 2023, 10 textile mills and one cement factory were closed down in Sindh, parliamentary secretary on industries and commerce, Ali Ahmed told the house, while replying to the questions by the lawmakers.

The industry is facing a severe depression from the continuing power crisis, which has also left the industry output highly disturbed, he acknowledged while answering to a question of MQM’s Abdul Basit on what has led to the closures of textiles and cement units.

Another MQM legislator, Rashid Khan said that investors have not yet been handed over possession rights of the small industrial plots over the past 10 years in Hyderabad, despite getting full payments from them. He feared that the plots status is being changed. The parliamentary secretary told the house that the development work on these plots is under way.

Opposition leader Ali Khurshidi angered over not getting replies on his questions. He inquired about the number of industries established and those shut down between 2018 and 2023.

In response, Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani said that the opposition leader has placed his query with an irrelevant department, as he should have asked this question from Sindh Labour Department instead.

Ali Ahmed; however, replied that some 10 textile mills and a cement factory were shut down because of the power crisis in Sindh between 2018 and 2023. He informed the legislature that the government is founding an industrial zone in Larkana.

He added that the government also works on a public private partnership to establish industrial zones in the province in a bid to scale up the industrial growth. A 30 percent ownership quota has been allocated for women in the industrial zone being developed at the Northern Bypass, he said.

The house also voted to an anti-narcotics bill, which Sindh Excise Minister, Sharjeel Inam Memon had presented. The legislation, he said, is aimed to curb the spread of the drugs menace especially amongst the young generation. The house now stands adjourned till Tuesday afternoon.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024