LAHORE: The entire industry in Punjab faces the possibility of a complete shutdown as power distribution companies have ‘unofficially’ conveyed to factory owners that electricity supply to their units will remain suspended from Monday midnight to fully meet domestic demand during the four Eid holidays.

Water and Power Secretary Nargis Sethi, however, told Dawn, “There’s no power shutdown for any category; the information is not correct.”

When contacted, officials of different distribution companies told this reporter they had orders from the ministry to provide “uninterrupted supply” to domestic consumers.

“How can you achieve zero loadshedding (for domestic connections) without cutting off supply to the industry?” wondered Gujranwala Electric Supply Company Chief Engineer Shaukat Ali Gill. Speaking on telephone on Monday evening, he said power supply to factories would be cut off from midnight.

“It will save us around 300MW, which is enough to fill the gap for domestic consumers during the holidays,” he added.

In Lahore, Lahore Electric Supply Company officials denied the company planned to suspend supply to the industry, but many industrialists said they had been unofficially conveyed the message to “voluntarily” keep their factories shut during the holidays. A spokesman for Sundar Industrial Estate (SIE) said Lesco had decided to cut off electricity for factories located in the estate for the next five days.

“The Lesco decision will cause heavy production losses,” he said. He further claimed Lesco was specifically targeting the SIE. He also said the SIE management had appealed to the chief minister and federal water and power minister to order restoration of at least 12 hours of electricity supply during Eid holidays.

A Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) spokesman said the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company had asked the industry to cut their electricity usage by half from the existing 14 hours a day to seven hours during the next five days.

“Most of the factories are already closed down; power loom owners have gone on a strike from today to protest electricity suspension. The industry in Faisalabad is operating at only 40pc of its capacity. The next five days will be even more difficult for the labour and exporters equally,” said Azizullah Goheer, PTEA secretary.

Complete industrial closure in the province over the next four to five days is estimated to result in retrenchment of millions of industrial workers, especially daily wagers, during Eid holidays and cause export losses of around $200 million.

The industry in Punjab is already reeling under massive energy shortages for the last several months because of power and gas shortages.

“The authorities are not coming clean on this issue. The Lesco officials are telling us informally that the industry will not get power during the holidays. But no notification has so far been issued,” S.M. Tanvir, chairman of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, said. He demanded the government ensure the industry in Punjab continues to receive power to run its operations during holidays in the larger interest of the economy and the millions of factory workers.

Another spinner, who asked not to be named, said factory-owners were confused whether to retain their workers or let them return home.

“The government couldn’t have given a worse gift to the exporters and labour on the eve of Eid. It is difficult to understand why the government is punishing the industry and the people for its inefficient handling of energy shortages in Punjab. If it cannot give us electricity during the next four days, it should instead provide us gas for 24 hours so we can operate our machines and meet our export orders on time.”

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2014