Spokesman for All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has expressed concern over load shedding up to 10 to 12 hours a day, causing serious production, export and job cuts in the textile industry.
He said the textile mills situated in DISCOs, including Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) and Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) are being hit hard by unannounced load shedding for long durations.
The APTMA spokesman said the government had withdrawn exemption granted to the textile industry from load shedding on independent feeders and temporarily announced a four-hour load shedding a day during high-demand period.
The industry is being forced for one week to face load shedding like domestic consumers for long durations of 10-12 hours a day.
He alleged DISCOs were intentionally violating the decision of the energy conference chaired by the prime minister and blaming the NTDC for long spells of power outages.
The NTDC officials, on the other hand, are of the view that they cannot avoid power supply to a specific area after keeping the grid station of that area functional.
The spokesman said that a textile mill can only be viable if it is operational for 24/7 and 365 days a year. Otherwise, he said, it becomes unviable to sustain production, if there are power breakdowns for 8 to 10 hours a day.
He said similar submissions were made to President Asif Ali Zardari by the APTMA chairman at a recently-held meeting in Karachi, who directed the Ministry for Water and Power to ensure exemption to the textile industry from load shedding. This arrangement could last for a few weeks only and the duration has been increased to six hours.
He has urged the government to act immediately and grant exemption to the textile industry from load shedding or at least restrict it to the announced four-hour mandatory load shedding until full exemption is ensured. He said it is irony that the prime users have neither gas nor electricity to run their industry.
