LAHORE: The country’s cotton and ginning sector faces complete operational paralysis as factory owners threaten nationwide shutdowns and strikes after the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) conducted unannounced raids and record seizures in Sindh.
The aggressive tax enforcement actions, carried out without prior notice in key cotton-producing hubs, including Sanghar, Tando Adam, and Shahdadpur, have triggered widespread panic across industry, forcing several ginning factories to abruptly halt production amid an already severe economic slump.
Addressing a press conference at PCGA House in Multan, Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) Chairman Sohail Mehmood Harral, flanked by central leadership, warned that the business community would have no choice but to shut down all operating facilities if the harassment under the Regional Tax Office (RTO) Hyderabad jurisdiction is not halted immediately.
Ginners protest unannounced FBR raids, record seizures in Sindh
Expressing grave concerns, PCGA officials reported that tax authorities forcibly broke factory locks and confiscated financial records, bypassing legal notice procedures.
Cotton Ginners Forum Chairman Ihsanul Haq confirmed that these heavy-handed tactics have sent shockwaves across both ginning and oil mill operations nationwide, threatening to derail the ongoing harvest season.
The crackdown comes as the sector is already crippled by exorbitant electricity tariffs, rising production costs, and a crushing sales tax burden of 18 to 22 per cent.
Industrialists pointed out that over 100 ginning factories have become non-functional in 2025-26 alone, bringing the cumulative total of closed facilities to over 500 ginning units, nearly 700 oil mills, 175 textile mills, and hundreds of power looms across Pakistan.
While praising RTOs in Multan and Bahawalpur for choosing dialogue over coercive action, Mr Harral urged the government to replace raids with standard legal notices, giving mill owners a fair opportunity to comply without disrupting industrial activity.
Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2026
