Lahore
The Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) has called for exemptions from power outages for exporting SMEs, as the power crisis across Pakistan has intensified and overall electricity shortfall has reached more than 7,000 megawatts.
PRGME north zone chairman Sheikh Luqman Amin asked the authorities to take quick action, taking notice of forced loadshedding in the export industry because of non-availability of fuel, technical faults, failure in purchasing of fuel and maintenance of the power plants, leading to crunch of thousands of megawatts across the country and particularly in the export hub of Sialkot. He remarked that exporters would not be able to meet timely shipments due to closure of one shift while local supplies of goods would also face problems.
As the residents continue to face massive power failures, the distribution companies have now extended the scope of loadshedding towards the industrial sector by conducting eight to 12 hours power cuts.
Export industries in Sialkot, Faisalabad and Lahore are facing various durations of power breakdowns, as many units have closed down their night shift production owing to non-availability of power while others might follow the suit. Closure of the night shift would hit over 30 percent of total production of the manufacturer, he added.
Sheikh Luqman Amin said that loadshedding is being carried out on the pretext of furnace oil shortage, recalling that a week ago, DISCOs authorities had assured industries not to carry out loadshedding, but then suddenly started it on an hour’s notice.
