Despite protests and several meetings by Punjab's textile mills to increase power supply by 135MW, the government of Pakistan was unable to fulfill demand. Punjab-based textile mills on independent feeders face 10 hours a day loadshedding. Over 55 mills across the state are dependent upon power but according to the industry sources, the government has done nothing to meet a meagre demand of 135MW.
Though mill owners have been paying their electricity bills on time, the exorbitant power tariff is making their lives difficult as demands for a special tariff for Punjab-based textile mills are not being taken into consideration by the National Tariff Commission. Meanwhile, the government is pursuing textile millers to invest on coal-based power generation with an upfront tariff of 9.25 cents. The textile industry is unhappy with the government for forcing them to invest in power generation, either in the shape of Captive Power Plants or coal-based generation. They feel it is the government’s responsibility to ensure uninterrupted energy supply.
The current crisis has been negatively affecting electricity-dependent mills and now they have started blaming the CPP-led mills to ignore their demand for energy. Also the Supreme Court verdict about equal distribution of electricity among consumers has also impacted the power-dependent mills. The cost of energy per unit for gas-based mills comes around Rs 6.5 against Rs 14 per unit for the electricity-dependent mills, which further brings to fore, the vast disparity between the two sides.
