Aptma decides to shut textile mills

E-Paper | May 01, 2026

LAHORE: The Chairman of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, Mr S.M. Tanveer, said on Sunday that the association had decided to ‘voluntarily’ close down the textile industry because of the losses it had been suffering.

“An emergency meeting of Aptma’s general body has deliberated on the adverse circumstances and found it unfeasible to incur losses by operating mills partially,” Mr Tanveer said in a statement.

According to the Aptma chairman, the cost of doing business in the textile sector has gone through the roof and the burden of incidental taxes, provincial cess, system inefficiencies and the punitive withholding tax regime have added fuel to the fire.

The Aptma chairman said the owners of mills in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Karachi had decided to close down operations and lay off millions of workers because they had nothing to offer their international buyers against the regional competitors.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play

Follow Dawn Business on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Our readers are at the heart of everything we do.
Do you have a thought to share or a way we can improve? We’d love to hear it. Reach out to us at feedback@dawn.com.

Pakistan

Fuel hits Rs400 per litre as govt passes on global impact

IHC upholds Capital Development Authority’s decision of canceling One Constitution Avenue lease

Breathe Pakistan conference to be held at Serena

AAK

Jun 29, 2015 06:52am

We should diversify away from textiles. Such a mature industry and frequently in trouble?

Recommend 0

Saad

Jun 29, 2015 06:52am

Little by little, our industry is dying a slow death. For the love of God, please manage the costs of running a business and provide competitively priced energy to the nation.

Recommend 0

Sadiq Ali Bohra

Jun 29, 2015 07:03am

If I am not wrong.... isent it supposed t be a ALARMINGLY alarming news? or am I wrong?

Recommend 0

Khan

Jun 29, 2015 07:06am

Industries are shutting down under the leadership of an industrialist Prime Minister !

Recommend 0

viq saad

Jun 29, 2015 07:49am

Poor governance, load shedding, decisions based on personal gains are eventually going to show its face like this. Long Live Pakistan

Recommend 0

Cyrus

Jun 29, 2015 07:56am

It is very difficult to address this problem, or comment on it. Companies cannot operate at a loss. There are solutions which may satisfy no one. In Argentina the workers took over the factories and ran them as cooperatives. If is no longer possible to permit the government to subsidize flagging industries in Pakistan. In Argentina the rich left the country for Europe and the United States. Even the smallest companies had to be run by the workers after they were abandoned when the currency collapsed. China had to reorganize their central economy and so did the Soviet Union. Right now Pakistan is feeling the effects of the 2008 economic collapse in the US; also due in part to big bureaucracy and public corruption. The US unlike Pakistan is able to begin to shift the economy laterally into cutting edge technologies and emerging small companies. There will be many angry people in Pakistan this morning, and who could blame them?

Recommend 0

holysmoke

Jun 29, 2015 07:57am

The whole Textile mills association is forced to shut down mills in five areas and millions are laid off and still no readers' posts? As a foreigner, let me propose a rescue: Pakistani gov should immediately remove all taxes on manufacturing, sales, and exports and those strange "incidental taxes"! And then audit all firms thus given tax holiday --until better times! Benefit: Millions continue to work, feed, house, educate and live. Work on that if you want to REDUCE PROBLEMS!

Recommend 0

Irtiza

Jun 29, 2015 08:18am

So what if the industries are closing, we cherish our METRO.

Recommend 0

dr avijit Singh

Jun 29, 2015 08:33am

In state of Gujarat , Maharashtra n many other states infrastructure for industrial electric supply n domestic supply r separate n one has no effect on other ! N also southern n western grid have become smart grid which means they automatically increase or decrease supply based on consumption by taking/supplying electricity from central pool ! Northern grid is in process of becoming smart grid ! Smart grid takes care of itself and no manual intervention required only monitoring by engineers ! Pakistan should also adapt to smart grid solutions ! By they way chennai metro rail starts from today ! India in these days facing problem due to low electricity demand , out of total generating capacity of 240000 MW , demand in these days is around 139000MW only !

Recommend 0

faheem

Jun 29, 2015 08:50am

@Irtiza LOL .. so true !!

Recommend 0

Manzoor

Jun 29, 2015 08:58am

Bottomline,they don't want to pay taxes .Instead they are looking for subsidies.Let the market prevail and inefficient units close.More competent people will take over.

Recommend 0

Amer RAO

Jun 29, 2015 08:58am

This is very unfortunate, private sector closing down their textile units. Government is not serious about solid business plans. I am sure, next time our business community will vote to PTI.

Recommend 0

Qamer

Jun 29, 2015 09:03am

A bad news if true, I want to see how the government reacts.

Recommend 0

Xnain

Jun 29, 2015 09:12am

1-They are getting subsidized funding through ERF and LTTF. 2-They are getting refunds on R&D which they never do. 3-They are getting Sales tax returns which they claim by filing bogus invoices. And yet these cry babies always want more every year. Not even a single year this APTMA wants anything less. These industrialists are being spoon fed for decades by the governments. When would they grow up and start competing on their own?

Recommend 0

KAlam

Jun 29, 2015 09:58am

Cost of doing business is the real challenge for enterprises in the country especially for the small enterprises as compared to large ones. This necessitate structural reforms in the transportation and energy sector inter alia others.

Recommend 0

shereen

Jun 29, 2015 10:36am

We elected selfish people. Now we pay for it with our lives and livelihoods.

Recommend 0

proud-winner

Jun 29, 2015 10:36am

This is not good.

Recommend 0

pakone

Jun 29, 2015 01:51pm

Is it just me or shouldnt this be major news?? Textile INDUSTRY being shut down in Pak?? Where Faisalabad was once called the Manchester of the East and to earn a degree from the Textile university there was almost like getting a degree from LUMS or a reputed international college! This is truly disgraceful. A large part of our exports used to be made up of textiles sold to all major famous global brand names!

Recommend 0

Aslam Khan Ken

Jun 29, 2015 04:01pm

The PM and his loyalist Finance and Information Ministers used blame PTI dharna for depreciation of rupee and exports declining. Whom are they blaming now for their incompetence and failure?

Recommend 0

Bashir

Jun 30, 2015 05:57am

@Aslam Khan Ken . A group of relatives and loyalists is ruling the country. What do you expect from them. With crack down on corrupt people we see dim light at the end of the dark tunnel.

Recommend 0

Branded Content

Taptap Send, Arshad Nadeem partner to highlight Pakistan’s unsung champions

The initiative comes at a time when cricket continues to dominate national attention, often overshadowing achievements in other sports.

NexGen Auto (Nishat Group) to Introduce iCAUR in Pakistan

As one of Pakistan’s leading business groups, Nishat Group operates across key sectors including textiles, cement, banking, insurance, power and agriculture.