ISLAMABAD: Following the suspension of four months gas load management plan for textiles in Punjab province, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif constituted a high-level committee under the chair of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to settle the issue of gas shortage for textile during winter.
The committee has been assigned to devise a mechanism for sustainable gas supply to textile industry of Punjab in winter.
Federal Textile Minister Abbas Khan Afridi, Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Muhammad Asif and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi are members of the committee besides representatives of textile sector will also be included in the committee along with any other member co-opted by the chairman.
It is to be noted that the decision to suspend gas load management plan for Punjab textile sector u was taken after a delegation of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) and other textile related representatives met Finance Minister Dar.
The delegation said that although some textile units were only using electricity, a majority of units were dependent on gas to remain competitive with neighbouring countries. Hence, suspension of gas supply from November till March would starve the textile industry resulting in huge decline in export earnings.
