LAHORE, Jan 14: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Dr Khalid Javed Chaudhry called on the government on Monday to extend a special furnace oil and gas package to the Water and Power Development Authority to bring down its power tariff. This, he said, would help the export industry become competitive in the world market.

He said since electricity was an important input for industry, a reduction in the tariff would have a beneficial effect on national economy and government revenue.

Dr Chaudhry said that an inflated cost of production had been affecting viability of industrial units and had resulted in the closure of about 35 per cent powerlooms in Faisalabad district alone.

He said that suspension of export orders by foreign buyers and the borders situation had deepened the on-going recession. As such small industries faced severe financial constraints.

The LCCI chief praised the services of the Wapda chairman, Lt-Gen Zulfikar Ali Khan, and said an efficient administration had yielded positive results with revenue going up and line losses gradually going down.