Exporting industries remained deprived of gas or faced low pressure, which resulted in delayed orders or failure to meet export orders, a top official of the Value-Added Textile Forum said in a letter written to the Prime Minister. Foreign buyers have become doubtful that their orders would be delayed and have approached exporters in Pakistan, enquiring about their deliveries in the wake of the gas crisis, the letter reads.
Muhammad Jawed Bilwani, Chief Coordinator at Value Added Textile Forum and also Chairman of Pakistan Apparel Forum, wrote the letter to PM Imran Khan to take notice on ‘urgent bases, saying that gas shortage since last 2 months had put the industries into a delicate situation.
“To avoid delays, foreign buyers are demanding their export shipment by air which is 800 percent expensive than shipment by sea,” he said, adding, “the buyers have also communicated that if exporters are not able to achieve the delivery date, they will have to shift export our orders from Pakistan and your factory, back to India, and Sri Lanka.”
The letter informed that despite the government’s claim to exempt the city’s export sectors from gas load shedding, they were facing ‘zero gas pressure’ for up to 16 hours a day, and gas was supplied for only 8 hours in every 24 hours.
“It is claimed that the government has exempted from gas load shedding to the export sectors and gas is being supplied to their captive power as well as for processing (industrial use). However, here in Karachi, there is no gas for 16 hours due to zero gas pressure and gas is supplied only 8 hours in a day,” the letter reads.
