LAHORE: The All Pakistan Textile Mill Association (APTMA) has revealed that the textile industry in Punjab was presently being charged Rs 1,250/MMBTU for gas as compared to gas supply to the industry in other provinces at Rs 600/MMBTU. A spokesman for APTMA Friday said that electricity in Punjab was being provided to the textile exporting industry along with surcharges of Rs.3.60/kwh [tariff rationalisation (TR) and financial cost (FC)]. He said that the textile industry in Punjab is saddled with the burden of non-recovery of bills and electricity theft of others, a factor of inefficiency that cannot be passed on to the international buyer. “This disparity is unjust and unfair for Punjab-based textile industry to sustain. Textile industry associations have repeatedly represented this issue to the governments both at the federal and provincial levels but to no avail.” Faced with this sorry state of the affairs textile industry associations in Punjab have decided to hold a joint session today (Saturday) wherein, out of desperation, participants and stakeholders will consider all options be it closure, protest, observance of black-day to secure the viability of the Punjab industry. Published in Daily Times, February 17th 2018.