GUJRAT: The Ministry of Science and Technology has stressed the inclusion of electric fan industry in the mandatory list of the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) through introduction of star rating in electric fans aimed at manufacturing energy-efficient product.

The local fan industry is reluctant to join the list of the PSQCA and has asked the ministry to first ensure the provision of full voltage electricity across the country as well as imposition of the authority standards on the imported raw material.

An interactive session between the representatives of the Pakistan Electric Fan Manufacturers Association (Pefma) and a team of the ministry led by Federal Minister for Science and Technology Senator Shibli Faraz and Senator Nauman Khattak was held here at the Pefma headquarters in Gujrat on Saturday. The participants exchanged views on launching the performance standards.

Federal minister Shibli Faraz briefed the participants on the initiatives of his ministry to improve the life of people through use of science and technology. He said the main objective was to ensure the production of energy-efficient fans to benefit the consumer through reduction of electricity bills and enhance the economic activity. The conserved electricity could by utilised by the industrial sector, he said.

On the other hand, the Pefma representatives said the industry had already been gradually working on technology transformation through inverter fans. The imposition of the PSQCA standards at once might shut the entire sector since it lacked the capacity for being a small-scale sector, they said.

Khawar Rafique, a former Pefma chairman, told Dawn that the fan industry had asked the ministry to launch the imposition of the PSQCA rating regime in three phases but first of all, it should ensure good quality of imported raw material and stable voltage. The manufacturers should be asked for voluntarily joining the rating and the mandatory registration should be done in the third stage, he said.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2021