As many as 144 textile mills have been closed across the country, said All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Chairman Kamran Arshad on Thursday. He said that the rates of gas and electricity for these mills were extremely high. “Heavy taxes are also to blame for the closure of mills,” he said, and added, “To make matters worse, the government has again increased the prices of electricity for industrial units.

”The APTMA chairman said that industries would only grow in the country when electricity would be available at Rs25 per unit, not at Rs35 per unit. “Electricity in Pakistan is costly than India, Bangladesh and Vietnam.” He informed that 19 per cent less electricity was consumed in November.  Arshad said that due to the closure of these units, the export of textile products has dropped.

He also demanded bringing the interest rate down to single digits. On the other hand, despite the fact that the strike by the containers’ association is over, it has hit the textile industry badly, prompting the mills’ owners to write to concerned ministries to make demands. Mills’ owners have said that the one-and-a-half-week-long strike delayed the transportation of import and export items.

APTMA, the representative body of mills’ owners, has demanded the government to give time for the payment of electricity bills. APTMA Zonal Chairman Naveed Gulzar has said that the textile industry was already grappling with so many issues, and the strike by the containers’ association exacerbated the situation.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)