Industry rejects cut in gas supply; terms anti-business move

Industry rejects cut in gas supply; terms anti-business move

KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Friday strongly rejected the cut in gas supply for industrial consumers and CNG stations.

Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) and Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli and President (KCCI) Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, while totally rejecting SSGC’s load shedding schedule for Industrial Consumers and CNG Stations, stated that this unjust and anti-business move would completely destroy the industries who are already going through the toughest time and questing really hard for survival particularly in an extraordinary situation caused by coronavirus pandemic.

In order to overcome the ongoing electricity load shedding, SSGC has announced to carry out gas load shedding for three days to be suffered by industrial consumers, captive power plants and CNG stations which would prove detrimental for the industries who are already in deep crises and at the verge of complete collapse due to negative impact of lockdown imposed since March 2020, Siraj Teli and Agha Shahab said while terming SSGC’s load shedding as ‘sheer injustice’ and ‘conspiracy’ against the city of lights which is deliberately being plunged into darkness.

They pointed out that the government has always reiterated its resolve to provide uninterrupted electricity and gas supply to five export-oriented zero-rated sectors which hardly cover up around 1300 to 1500 industries but what about the rest of 14,500 industries, out of a total number of 16,000 industries in Karachi which continue to remain deprived as no relief has ever been given and they, despite being taxpayers, have to bear all the anguish and go through gas and electricity load shedding, exorbitant tariffs, infrastructure and other civic issues.

Instead of providing relief to all the industries in the ongoing extraordinary situation, the ECC recently approved Rs2.89 per unit tariff hike in KE Bills and now the hardships would aggravate further as the business community is being compelled to face gas load shedding for three days a week which is unacceptable, they added.

They criticized that if the government has to create so much trouble through such anti-business policies then they should formally make an announcement once and for all that all the industrialists should immediately shut down their factories forever and go somewhere else.