LAHORE: Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) chief executive officer (CEO) Chaudhry Muhammad Amin has assured the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) of incessant electricity supply to the industry during the winter season.
Amin said that extraordinary measures are being adopted to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to the export-oriented industry of the country without any shutdowns, interruptions, fluctuations, tripping, etc.
Talking to a delegation of Aptma, headed by Hamid Zaman, chairman of the Northern Zone, with Kamran Arshad, senior vice chairman, Aamir Sheikh, Raza Baqir, executive director and Tahir Basharat Cheema, energy advisor of the association, the Lesco CEO assured that no punitive action would be taken against the industry if the consumption exceeds sanctioned load provided that the consumption remains within 5MW.
He asked the Aptma to convince its members to apply for extension of load if required by them and committed that the power utility would process their applications on a priority basis.
For immediate redressal of industry issues, the official appointed Tariq Usman, director commercial and Muhammad Ashfaq, deputy manager, as the focal persons from Lesco and Raza Baqir from Aptma to attend to the problems and issues.
Taking up the issues confronting smooth functioning of the Aptma member mills in the province, Zaman said that an extreme voltage fluctuation, besides excessive interruptions, is proving fatal for the export-oriented textile industry and demands immediate redressal.
He said the textile industry operates 24/7 for 365 days and heavy fluctuation of electricity supply hits its productivity badly that ultimately affects the exports of the country.
The Lesco official should shift the industry load to other grid stations for smooth uninterrupted electricity supply to the industries during scheduled grid maintenance, he said.
The Aptma Northern Zone chairman also took up the issue of exchange rate for calculation of electricity bills of the export-oriented sectors.
The power utility official committed to examine the issue in consultation with the legal wing and Aptma.
Aptma senior vice chairman Kamran Arshad took up the issues of individual member mills with the Lesco CEO on the occasion and appealed for early resolutions of the same.
The Lesco CEO said the textile industry has contributed to the exports of the country and job creation immensely, but it is also bringing in investment to the country and Lesco has always been attentive to its issues.
He assured of resolving all the major issues of the industry for its smooth operations in the larger interest of the country’s economy and prosperity.