KARACHI: Sindh is expected to get 14 new ginning factories, worth approximately Rs1 billion, by the start of next cotton season 2018-19, trade and industry sources said.

The new ginning units are expected to be installed in district Khairpur, Nawabshah (Benazirabad), district Sanghar and Hyderabad. The province already has around 300 ginning units.

Karachi Cotton Brokers Forum chairman Naseem Usman told Dawn that these new ginning units will result in tough competition for lifting of phutti (seed cotton). On an average, each ginning unit is costing around Rs70 million, he maintained.

“Ginners in Sindh are already faced with short supply of phutti owing to successive crop failures. The provincial government must work on enhancing crop size and only then new ginning units should be allowed to operate,” Mr Usman added.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2018