As many as 400 textile mills in Punjab province are facing shutdown due to a lack of gas and electricity supplies, making it difficult for them to fulfil their export orders.
The power and gas outages that caused the textile mills to close have also resulted in the layoff of thousands of hourly workers.
Read more: Textile factories starting to close as they stop receiving gas
“It is not possible for us to run textile mills on pricey diesel and if the closure continues, the textile exports will witness a $1 billion decline,” the All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) said.
According to APTMA sources, they have previously informed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif about the reduction in textile exports caused by gas and power shortages.
APTMA Patron-in-Chief Gohar Aijaz urged the prime minister to take notice of the gas and power outages and restore supplies to the industry at earliest.
Read more: Textile sector’s gas suspension to cause $1B loss: APTMA
According to a report, the textile industry will be forced to close from July 1 to 8 due to the extended stoppage of gas delivery. The majority of Pakistan’s textile mills are located in Punjab province, which will be the hardest hit by the gas outage. The interruption of gas delivery will particularly affect industry in Punjab, which is home to 70% of textile mills.
According to sources, the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) informed the textile mills of the gas supply suspension after receiving gas supplies from captive power units.
Moreover, the decision to suspend gas supply was made in order to maintain uninterrupted supplies to the electricity and fertilizer sectors.
However, Former Energy Minister and PTI leader Hammad Azhar already predicted that the government has disconnected power supply to medium and large-scale industries. This will bring a wave of unemployment in the country and will cause a shortage of commodities and ultimately ruin the economy.