The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association on Wednesday called on Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and presented their solutions to energy crisis.
A 24-member delegation comprising group leader Gohar Ejaz, APTMA Punjab chairman Shahzad Ali Khan, convener of APTMA International Trade Committee and Punjab government’s Energy Task Force member Amir Fayyaz, SM Tanveer headed by APTMA acting chairman Wisal A Monnoo called on Shahbaz Sharif.
On the occasion, the chief minister appreciated the APTMA’s solution-oriented approach and proposal of hourly-based gas supply to captive power plants besides giving commitment on exemption to prime users of electricity at the earliest. He also expressed his resolve to address energy-related issues of the textile industry.
Monnoo appreciated the chief minister for his keen interest in resolving the industry problems and sparing time to understand the APTMA vision on energy crisis.
The APTMA group leader also made a detailed presentation on the short, medium and long term APTMA strategy to nail down energy crisis and bring the closed capacities back to operations providing jobs to 15 million-workforce, lifting 13 million bales of cotton from farmers and keeping exports intact in a highly competitive environment.
In the short-term solution, Gohar Ejaz urged the chief minister to ensure hourly-based gas supply to captive power plants (CPPs) keeping in view the short supplies and uninterrupted power supply to the prime users to revive closed capacity of textile industry in Punjab. Only five percent of the total industry was the prime user of electricity, already exempted from load shedding in the past, he cited.
Regarding medium-term solution, he suggested to speed up work on LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) import from all possible destinations. He highlighted the industry worries about gas availability during December, January and February when the industry would be lifting cotton from farmers, adding that the industry would be in need of uninterrupted gas supply to the CPPs. He explained to the chief minister the idea of large power producers (LPPs) to produce 3,000 MW electricity through coal as a long-term measure to overcome the energy problem. He said the APTMA members would not only be the shareholders of the LPPs to invest equity but also be end consumers of electricity generated through this process.
He said the LPPs should be installed in the coastal areas along with the CSP system for environment-friendly generation of electricity. The cost of electricity would not be more than Rs 8 per unit, he added.