LAHORE: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association`s central chairman S.M Tanveer says no subsidy is being given to the textile industry`s electricity tariff while a 67 per cent increase in textile`s tariff during the last one year has made it almost unsustainable.

He said the industry had further been burdened with cross-tariff subsidy despite the nearly zero line losses on textile industry feeders.

Presiding over a meeting of the association on Friday, Mr Tanveer said the recent press conference by Federal Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Asif had astonished many among the textile industry, rejecting his claim of providing 100pc subsidy on electricity.

`Pakistan is on the top in terms of electricity tariff for the industry in the region.The cost of electricity for the industry comes to around 15 cents in Pakistan, which is costlier in comparison to regional competitors including India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka,` he clarified.

The imposition of global line loss hgures on the textile industry has increased the electricity cost by 67pc.

While linked with gas shortage, the Punjab-based textile mills are paying Rs100 billion additional under the head of energy costs against other provinces, he added.

Tanveer said this phenomenon had already brought country`s exports down by $1bn in last five months. The country might lose $2.5bn exports in total in case the energy shortage continued for the Punjabbased textile industry, he said.

Aptma`s Punjab chairman Seth Akbar said high energy cost had rendered 40pc capacity closed which resulted in laying off hundreds and thousands of textile workers, he said.