PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textile Mills Association (KPTMA), representing textile mills of KP, has rejected the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) for placing the moratorium on the supply of gas to textile units for self-generation of electricity.

KPTMA has urged the Chief Minister KP, Federal Minister for Energy, Special Assistant to Prime Minister of Pakistan, Advisor to Chief Minister KP on Energy & Power and Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for their intervention for the resolution of the issue and also requested to take up the issue in the Council of Common Interest.

In this connection, a meeting of the member mills of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textile Mills Association was held here Tuesday in KPTMA House with Salim Saifullah Khan. The member mills strongly rejected the decision of the CCoE to curtail the supply of gas to the export-oriented textile industry and divert the gas supply to the IPPs for power generation.

Salim Saifullah Khan while briefing the representatives of print and electronic media showed his serious concerns over the adverse effects of the decision of CCoE.

He warned the government that such unsolicited decision would result in the high cost of production, unemployment, loss of investment and decline in export of textile products. He said that cost of electricity would increase substantially which would make the exports of textile products less competitive in the international market.

He further said that it would also be a challenge for the government to provide uninterrupted electricity to the industry as available grid stations are already overloaded. Moreover, the transmission system also needs massive overhauling.

He added that shifting of manufacturing units to WAPDA electricity is also not possible on such short notice. He suggested that the Government, in consultations with stakeholders, should devise some workable plan if the implementation of the decision is inevitable.

He was of the view that the Government should atleast keep the unit rate of electricity equivalent to the actual cost of electricity as incurred by the textile mills through self-generation. Moreover, the Government fix such rates for the next five to seven years and also ensure regular and uninterrupted supply of electricity.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021