The
Federal Government of Pakistan has promised to further slash prices of gas for
the textile industry of the country, in order to minimise production cost for
the manufacturers to the highest level. This was announced by State Minister
for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan while addressing a meeting at All Pakistan
Textile Processing Mills Association (APTPMA) in Faisalabad on January 22,
2018.The meeting was also attended and addressed by APTPMA members Aftab Ahmad,
Engineer Rizwan Ashraf and Engineer Ehtisham Javaid.
According to the Minister, apart from offering weighted average price of RLNG
(Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas) across the country, the Government is
planning to offer electricity at Rs. 7 per unit to the textile industry.The
announcement was made after APTPMA Chairman Sheikh Khalid Habib raised the
matter on how hard the high energy cost is hitting the textile industry in
Pakistan. It resulted in the migration of business to other manufacturing hubs
such as India, China and Bangladesh, he added.
Further, the imposition of sales tax on coal has made it compulsory for textile
unit owners to go through the refund claim system. In view of the inconvenience
faced by the textile traders, the Government is considering to kick-start an
easy process of ‘zero-rated’ coal for the textile industry so they
(manufacturers) do not need to go for the sales tax refund claim process
anymore in future.The Minister also emphasised on the need of expansion of
Faisalabad Airport as the city is known as the ‘textile capital’ apart from
being the third largest town in the country. This will ease the export rush at
the airport.
Source: Business Recorder, Pakistan Wednesday, 24 January 2018