Textile industry and exporters have rebutted the false and baseless propaganda by some vested interests in the garb of agricultural sector that fertiliser industry had priority over textile industry. Textile industry, they said is backbone of the country’s economy and is the largest provider of employment, foreign exchange, and revenue. Textile sector was employing over 40 per cent of the working population, generating 65 per cent of the foreign exchange earnings, and contributing 8.5 per cent to the nation’s GDP vis-a-vis fertiliser which did not earn single dollar rather spent huge forex on imports. Briefing the newsmen Rana Arif Tauseef, Chairman Pakistan Textile Exporters Association said to sacrifice the most important labour intensive and forex earning industry of the country at the altar of low employment and cost intensive industry was an unreasonable and unpatriotic demand. The advice of diesel for textile industry was misleading argument as the same foreign exchange should be spent on fertiliser import, he said. Furthermore gas use in stentor machines of textile processing mills was not replaceable by any other means similar to its use in fertiliser manufacturing. The current economic situation demands that government’s priority should be to save millions of jobs and ensure availability of gas to keep the wheels of industry running, he added. PTEA Chairman said gas was imperative to run the wheel of industry. But without its availability, no one could even think to run industry. Textile industry was working on thin margins and cannot afford to continue production on alternate fuel. Government had cut gas supply to textile industry from three days initially, followed by four days a week at present.
