KARACHI: The textile millers have rejected the government’s proposal to allow the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to purchase lint from ginners.
All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Chairman Tariq Saud, in a statement, said that it is an ‘imprudent’ approach to support the farmers. He criticised the Ministry of Textile Industry for suggesting an indicative price for cotton on the pattern of wheat and intervene through the TCP by directly buying lint from ginners.
“It appears that the textile ministry is clueless about the dismal state of the industry where cotton consumption has already been reduced to 13 million from 16 million bales, 35% of the capacity has totally collapsed and another 30% is incurring loss due to the high cost of doing business,” added Saud.
He said that the prudent way will be to support cotton farmers through direct subsidy as announced by the PM last year. Any other attempt would be tantamount to wastage of public funds especially when the TCP also lacks infrastructural facility to hold the cotton lint.
