KARACHI: Faisal Moiz Khan, President North Karachi Association of Trade & Industry (NKATI), has said that the anti-industry measures of the federal government have started having negative effects as a result of which the industrialists have stopped the expansion of their units and upgrading of machinery, while Investors have also stopped to setup new industries.
Therefore, the government should must announce uninterrupted supply of energy with reduction in electricity & gas tariff for expanding the units and encourage investors. So that the country can come out of the economic crisis and exports can be boosted.
In a statement, he asked the government why the gas crisis is only for Karachi? Why steps are being taken to destroy only Karachi’s industries? “Prime Minister Imran Khan should seriously consider the reason why Karachi, which is the backbone of the national economy and the heart of Pakistan, is being economically destroyed”, Faisal also asked.
NKATI President said that although captive power plants in other provinces of Pakistan have almost run out and most of the captive power plants are in Karachi, which were suggested by the previous governments to deal with energy crisis by self-electricity generation as per the industrial production requirement and now it is being shut down.
Faisal Moiz Khan opined that the COVID-19 pandemic has already created serious economic crises and now government is creating more problems instead of helping in this hour of trouble. “The shutdown of industries will lead to a new crisis as industries do not have the capacity to use other sources to meet their energy needs but will also need crores of rupees for new connection from K-Electric”, he added, in a severe economic crisis, industries can never afford it.
Proposed a solution to overcome the gas shortage, Faisal Moiz Khan said that instead of cutting off gas to industries, CNG should be shut down as it has no role in the economy, but instead OGRA is going to license the opening of more CNG stations, which is a matter of great concern to the industrial community.
