All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Chairman Ahsan Bashir has expressed concern over the prevailing energy crisis and its adverse effect on the textile industry.

Bashir said various textile mills are being exposed to 16-18 hours of power disruptions on a daily basis despite an exemption in place around the same time last year to curtail outages to the textile industry on independent feeders.

"The non-availability of gas and electricity is causing an adverse impact on the industry’s sustainability and growth, which contributes 9 percent to the country’s GDP.”

Bashir went on to add that the energy shortage, which is primarily hurting the Punjab-based textile industry, is ultimately ruining the country’s growth potential since 70 percent of the industry is located in Punjab.

"As a matter of fact, the whole supply chain right from spinning to weaving to processing and garmenting is disrupted,” said Bashir, adding that the situation is hampering export orders across the board.

The APTMA chairman said the textile industry could be the engine of growth and also serve as one of the biggest employers in the country if the government prioritised energy supply to the industry.

"Any further disruption may add fuel to the fire and the mills will not be able to sustain their viability,” Bashir said.